LCO No. 3607 1 of 2
General Assembly Raised Bill No. 928
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 3607
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E RECOVERY OF ATTORNEY'S FEES IN
ACTIONS FOR WRONGFUL PROPERTY TAX ASSESSM ENT.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 12-119 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective January 1, 2020): 2
When it is claimed that a tax has been laid on property not taxable 3
in the town or city in whose tax list such property was set, or that a tax 4
laid on property was computed on an assessment which, under all the 5
circumstances, was manifestly excessive and could not have been 6
arrived at except by disregarding the provisions of the statutes for 7
determining the valuation of such property, the owner thereof or any 8
lessee thereof whose lease has been recorded as provided in section 47-9
19 and who is bound under the terms of his lease to pay real property 10
taxes, prior to the payment of such tax, may, in addition to the other 11
remedies provided by law, make application for relief to the superior 12
court for the judicial district in which such town or city is situated. 13
Such application may be made within one year from the date as of 14
which the property was last evaluated for purposes of taxation and 15 Raised Bill No. 928
LCO No. 3607 2 of 2
shall be served and returned in the same manner as is required in the 16
case of a summons in a civil action, and the pendency of such 17
application shall not suspend action upon the tax against the applicant. 18
In all such actions, the Superior Court shall have power to grant such 19
relief upon such terms and in such manner and form as to justice and 20
equity appertains, [and costs] including, but not limited to, the 21
recovery of reasonable attorney's fees if such assessment is reduced by 22
said court. Costs may be taxed at the discretion of the court. If such 23
assessment is reduced by said court, the applicant shall be reimbursed 24
by the town or city for any overpayment of taxes in accordance with 25
the judgment of said court. 26
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 January 1, 2020 12-119
Statement of Purpose:
To permit the recovery of reasonable attorney's fees in successful
actions for wrongful property tax assessment.
[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.]