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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 7206
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 3974
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION FOR
CERTAIN RENEWABLE EN ERGY SOURCES AND HYD ROPOWER
FACILITIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subdivision (57) of section 12-81 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 2
October 1, 2019, and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after 3
October 1, 2019): 4
(57) (A) (i) Any Class I renewable energy source, as defined in 5
section 16-1, or hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of 6
subsection (a) of section 16-1, installed for the generation of electricity 7
where such electricity is intended for private residential use or on a 8
farm, as defined in subsection (q) of section 1-1, provided (I) such 9
installation occurs on or after October 1, 2007, [and further provided] 10
(II) the estimated annual production of such source or facility does not 11
exceed the estimated annual load for the location where such source or 12
facility is located, where such load and production are estimated as of 13
the date of installation of the source or facility as indicated in the 14 Raised Bill No. 7206
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written application filed pursuant to subparagraph (E) of this 15
subdivision, and (III) such installation is for a single family dwelling, a 16
multifamily dwelling consisting of two to four units or a farm; [,] (ii) 17
any passive or active solar water or space heating system; [,] or (iii) any 18
geothermal energy resource. In the case of subparagraph (A)(i) of this 19
subdivision, the utilization of or participation in any net metering or 20
tariff policy or program implemented by the state or ownership of 21
such source or facility by a party other than the owner of the real 22
property upon which such source or facility is installed shall not 23
disqualify such source or facility from exemption pursuant to this 24
section. In the case of clause (ii) or (iii) of this subparagraph, such 25
exemption shall apply only to the amount by which the assessed 26
valuation of the real property equipped with such system or resource 27
exceeds the assessed valuation of such real property equipped with the 28
conventional portion of the system or resource; 29
(B) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2013, 30
any Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, 31
hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of 32
section 16-1, or solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source, 33
installed for generation or displacement of energy, provided (i) such 34
installation occurs on or after January 1, 2010, (ii) such installation is 35
for commercial or industrial purposes, (iii) the nameplate capacity of 36
such source or facility does not exceed the load for the location where 37
such generation or displacement is located, and (iv) such source or 38
facility is located in a distressed municipality, as defined in section 32-39
9p, with a population between one hundred twenty-five thousand and 40
one hundred thirty-five thousand; 41
(C) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2013, 42
any municipality may, upon approval by its legislative body or in any 43
town in which the legislative body is a town meeting, by the board of 44
selectmen, abate up to one hundred per cent of property tax for any 45
Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, 46
hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of 47
section 16-1, or solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source, 48 Raised Bill No. 7206
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installed for generation or displacement of energy, provided (i) such 49
installation occurs between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2013, (ii) 50
such installation is for commercial or industrial purposes, (iii) the 51
nameplate capacity of such source or facility does not exceed the load 52
for the location where such generation or displacement is located, and 53
(iv) such source or facility is not located in a municipality described in 54
subparagraph (B) of this subdivision; 55
(D) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2014, 56
any (i) Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, (ii) 57
hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of 58
section 16-1, or (iii) solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy 59
source, installed for generation or displacement of energy, provided (I) 60
such installation occurs on or after January 1, 2014, (II) is for 61
commercial or industrial purposes, (III) the [nameplate capacity] 62
estimated annual production of such source or facility does not exceed 63
the estimated annual load for the location where such generation or 64
displacement is located or the aggregated load of the beneficial 65
accounts for any Class I renewable energy source participating in 66
virtual net metering pursuant to section 16-244u, where such load and 67
production are estimated as of the date of installation of the source or 68
facility as indicated in the written application filed pursuant to 69
subparagraph (E) of this subdivision, and (IV) in the case of clause (iii) 70
of this subparagraph, such exemption shall apply only to the amount 71
by which the assessed valuation of the real property equipped with 72
such source exceeds the assessed valuation of such real property 73
equipped with the conventional portion of the source; 74
(E) Any person claiming the exemption provided in this subdivision 75
for any assessment year shall, on or before the first day of November 76
in such assessment year, file with the assessor or board of assessors in 77
the town in which such hydropower facility, Class I renewable energy 78
source, solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source or 79
passive or active solar water or space heating system or geothermal 80
energy resource is located, a written application claiming such 81
exemption. Such application shall be made on a form prepared for 82 Raised Bill No. 7206
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such purpose by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, 83
and shall include, but not be limited to, a statement of the estimated 84
annual load and production of a source or facility described in 85
subparagraphs (A)(i) and (D) of this subdivision as of the date of the 86
installation of such source or facility. Said secretary shall make such 87
application available to the public on the Internet web site of the Office 88
of Policy and Management. Failure to file such application in the 89
manner and form as provided [by such assessor or board within the 90
time limit prescribed] shall constitute a waiver of the right to such 91
exemption for such assessment year. Such application shall not be 92
required for any assessment year following that for which the initial 93
application is filed, provided if such hydropower facility, Class I 94
renewable energy source, solar thermal or geothermal renewable 95
energy source or passive or active solar water or space heating system 96
or geothermal energy resource is altered in a manner which would 97
require a building permit, such alteration shall be deemed a waiver of 98
the right to such exemption until a new application, applicable with 99
respect to such altered source, is filed and the right to such exemption 100
is established as required initially. In the event that a person owns 101
more than one such source or facility in a municipality, such person 102
may file a single application identifying each such source or facility; 103
(F) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2015, 104
any municipality may, by vote of its legislative body or, in a 105
municipality where the legislative body is a town meeting, by vote of 106
the board of selectmen, abate up to one hundred per cent of the 107
property taxes due for any tax year, for not longer than the term of the 108
power purchase agreement, with respect to any Class I renewable 109
energy source, as defined in section 16-1, that is the subject of such 110
power purchase agreement approved by the Public Utilities 111
Regulatory Authority pursuant to section 16a-3f; 112
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
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Section 1 October 1, 2019, and
applicable to assessment
years commencing on or
after October 1, 2019
12-81(57)
Statement of Purpose:
To establish a property tax exemption for certain renewable energy
sources and hydropower facilities.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline,
except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is
not underlined.]