Substitute Senate Bill No. 140
Public Act No. 19-66
AN ACT EXPANDING ELI GIBILITY FOR TAX REL IEF FOR
CERTAIN ELDERLY HOME OWNERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (b) of section 12-170aa of the general statutes is
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective
October 1, 2019, and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after
October 1, 2019):
(b) (1) The program established by this section shall provide for a
reduction in property tax, except in the case of benefits payable as a
grant under certain circumstances in accordance with provisions in
subsection (j) of this section, applicable to the assessed value of certain
real property, determined in accordance with subsection (c) of this
section, for any (A) owner of real property, [or any] including any
owner of real property held in trust for such owner, provided such
owner or such owner and such owner's spouse are the grantor and
beneficiary of such trust, (B) tenant for life or tenant for a term of years
liable for property tax under section 12-48, or [any] (C) resident of a
multiple-dwelling complex under certain contractual conditions as
provided in said subsection (j) of this section, who [(A)] (i) at the close
of the preceding calendar year has attained age sixty-five or over, or
whose spouse domiciled with such homeowner, has attained age sixty- Substitute Senate Bill No. 140
Public Act No. 19-66 2 of 4
five or over at the close of the preceding calendar year, or is fifty years
of age or over and the surviving spouse of a homeowner who at the
time of his death had qualified and was entitled to tax relief under this
section, provided such spouse was domiciled with such homeowner at
the time of his death or [(B)] (ii) at the close of the preceding calendar
year has not attained age sixty-five and is eligible in accordance with
applicable federal regulations to receive permanent total disability
benefits under Social Security, or has not been engaged in employment
covered by Social Security and accordingly has not qualified for
benefits thereunder but who has become qualified for permanent total
disability benefits under any federal, state or local government
retirement or disability plan, including the Railroad Retirement Act
and any government-related teacher's retirement plan, determined by
the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management to contain
requirements in respect to qualification for such permanent total
disability benefits which are comparable to such requirements under
Social Security; and in addition to qualification under [(A)] (i) or [(B)]
(ii) above, whose taxable and nontaxable income, the total of which
shall hereinafter be called "qualifying income", in the tax year of such
homeowner ending immediately preceding the date of application for
benefits under the program in this section, was not in excess of sixteen
thousand two hundred dollars, if unmarried, or twenty thousand
dollars, jointly with spouse if married, subject to adjustments in
accordance with subdivision (2) of this subsection, evidence of which
income shall be required in the form of a signed affidavit to be
submitted to the assessor in the municipality in which application for
benefits under this section is filed. The amount of any Medicaid
payments made on behalf of such homeowner or the spouse of such
homeowner shall not constitute income. The amount of tax reduction
provided under this section, determined in accordance with and
subject to the variable factors in the schedule of amounts of tax
reduction in subsection (c) of this section, shall be allowed only with
respect to a residential dwelling owned by such qualified homeowner Substitute Senate Bill No. 140
Public Act No. 19-66 3 of 4
and used as such homeowner's primary place of residence. If title to
real property or a tenancy interest liable for real property taxes is
recorded in the name of such qualified homeowner or his spouse
making a claim and qualifying under this section and any other person
or persons, the claimant hereunder shall be entitled to pay his
fractional share of the tax on such property calculated in accordance
with the provisions of this section, and such other person or persons
shall pay his or their fractional share of the tax without regard for the
provisions of this section, unless also qualified hereunder. For the
purposes of this section, a "mobile manufactured home", as defined in
section 12-63a, or a dwelling on leased land, including but not limited
to a modular home, shall be deemed to be real property and the word
"taxes" shall not include special assessments, interest and lien fees.
(2) The amounts of qualifying income as provided in this section
shall be adjusted annually in a uniform manner to reflect the annual
inflation adjustment in Social Security income, with each such
adjustment of qualifying income determined to the nearest one
hundred dollars. Each such adjustment of qualifying income shall be
prepared by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management in
relation to the annual inflation adjustment in Social Security, if any,
becoming effective at any time during the twelve-month period
immediately preceding the first day of October each year and the
amount of such adjustment shall be distributed to the assessors in each
municipality not later than the thirty-first day of December next
following.
(3) For purposes of determining qualifying income under
subdivision (1) of this subsection with respect to a married homeowner
who submits an application for tax reduction in accordance with this
section, the Social Security income of the spouse of such homeowner
shall not be included in the qualifying income of such homeowner, for
purposes of determining eligibility for benefits under this section, if Substitute Senate Bill No. 140
Public Act No. 19-66 4 of 4
such spouse is a resident of a health care or nursing home facility in
this state receiving payment related to such spouse under the Title XIX
Medicaid program. An applicant who is legally separated pursuant to
the provisions of section 46b-40, as of the thirty-first day of December
preceding the date on which such person files an application for a
grant in accordance with subsection (a) of this section, may apply as an
unmarried person and shall be regarded as such for purposes of
determining qualifying income under said subsection.