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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1012
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 5540
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)
AN ACT CONCERNING CE RTAIN MUNICIPAL PROPERTY T AX
APPEALS AND CONTINGE NCY AGREEMENTS FOR E XPERT
TESTIMONY IN SUCH APPEALS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 12-117a of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 2
(a) Any person, including any lessee of real property whose lease 3
has been recorded as provided in section 47-19 and who is bound 4
under the terms of his lease to pay real property taxes, claiming to be 5
aggrieved by the action of the board of tax review or the board of 6
assessment appeals, as the case may be, in any town or city may, 7
within two months from the date of the mailing of notice of such 8
action, make application, in the nature of an appeal therefrom, with 9
respect to the assessment list for the assessment year commencing 10
October 1, 1989, October 1, 1990, October 1, 1991, October 1, 1992, 11
October 1, 1993, October 1, 1994, or October 1, 1995, and with respect 12
to the assessment list for assessment years thereafter, to the superior 13
court for the judicial district in which such town or city is situated, 14 Raised Bill No. 1012
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which shall be accompanied by a citation to such town or city to 15
appear before said court. Such citation shall be signed by the same 16
authority and such appeal shall be returnable at the same time and 17
served and returned in the same manner as is required in case of a 18
summons in a civil action. The authority issuing the citation shall take 19
from the applicant a bond or recognizance to such town or city, with 20
surety, to prosecute the application to effect and to comply with and 21
conform to the orders and decrees of the court in the premises. Any 22
such application shall be a preferred case, to be heard, unless good 23
cause appears to the contrary, at the first session, by the court or by a 24
committee appointed by the court. The pendency of such application 25
shall not suspend an action by such town or city to collect not more 26
than seventy-five per cent of the tax so assessed or not more than 27
ninety per cent of such tax with respect to any real property for which 28
the assessed value is five hundred thousand dollars or more, and upon 29
which such appeal is taken. If, during the pendency of such appeal, a 30
new assessment year begins, the applicant may amend his application 31
as to any matter therein, including an appeal for such new year, which 32
is affected by the inception of such new year and such applicant need 33
not appear before the board of tax review or board of assessment 34
appeals, as the case may be, to make such amendment effective. The 35
court shall have power to grant such relief as to justice and equity 36
appertains, upon such terms and in such manner and form as appear 37
equitable, and, if the application appears to have been made without 38
probable cause, may tax double or triple costs, as the case appears to 39
demand; and, upon all such applications, costs may be taxed at the 40
discretion of the court. If the assessment made by the board of tax 41
review or board of assessment appeals, as the case may be, is reduced 42
by said court, the applicant shall be reimbursed by the town or city for 43
any overpayment of taxes, together with interest and any costs 44
awarded by the court, or, at the applicant's option, shall be granted a 45
tax credit for such overpayment, interest and any costs awarded by the 46
court. Upon motion, said court shall, in event of such overpayment, 47
enter judgment in favor of such applicant and against such city or 48
town for the whole amount of such overpayment, less any lien 49 Raised Bill No. 1012
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recording fees incurred under sections 7-34a and 12-176, together with 50
interest and any costs awarded by the court. The amount to which the 51
assessment is so reduced shall be the assessed value of such property 52
on the grand lists for succeeding years until the tax assessor finds that 53
the value of the applicant's property has increased or decreased. 54
(b) In an appeal brought pursuant to this section, no witness, except 55
a certified public accountant, shall offer expert testimony concerning 56
the value of the applicant's property if such witness is compensated on 57
a contingency basis for such testimony. 58
Sec. 2. Section 12-119 of the general statutes is repealed and the 59
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 60
(a) When it is claimed that a tax has been laid on property not 61
taxable in the town or city in whose tax list such property was set, or 62
that a tax laid on property was computed on an assessment which, 63
under all the circumstances, was manifestly excessive and could not 64
have been arrived at except by disregarding the provisions of the 65
statutes for determining the valuation of such property, the owner 66
thereof or any lessee thereof whose lease has been recorded as 67
provided in section 47-19 and who is bound under the terms of his 68
lease to pay real property taxes, prior to the payment of such tax, may, 69
in addition to the other remedies provided by law, make application 70
for relief to the superior court for the judicial district in which such 71
town or city is situated. Such application may be made within one year 72
from the date as of which the property was last evaluated for purposes 73
of taxation and shall be served and returned in the same manner as is 74
required in the case of a summons in a civil action, and the pendency 75
of such application shall not suspend action upon the tax against the 76
applicant. In all such actions, the Superior Court shall have power to 77
grant such relief upon such terms and in such manner and form as to 78
justice and equity appertains, and costs may be taxed at the discretion 79
of the court. If such assessment is reduced by said court, the applicant 80
shall be reimbursed by the town or city for any overpayment of taxes 81
in accordance with the judgment of said court. 82 Raised Bill No. 1012
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(b) In an application for relief made pursuant to this section, no 83
witness, except a certified public accountant, shall offer expert 84
testimony concerning the value of the applicant's property if such 85
witness is compensated on a contingency basis for such testimony. 86
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 12-117a
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 12-119
Statement of Purpose:
To prohibit an expert witness other than a certified public accountant
from offering testimony concerning the value of real property in a
property tax assessment appeal if such witness is compensated on a
contingency basis for such testimony.
[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.]