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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1120
January Session, 2019
LCO No. 6729
Referred to Committee on FINANCE, REVENUE AND
BONDING
Introduced by:
(FIN)
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E MILL RATE FOR REAL PROPERTY AN D
MOTOR VEHICLES OWNED BY CERTAIN UTILITY COMPANIES AND
ESTABLISHING A PROPE RTY TAX EXEMPTION FO R CERTAIN
ITEMS WAREHOUSED IN THE STATE BY SUCH CO MPANIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2019) (a) As used in this 1
section, (1) "utility company" means an electric distribution company, 2
as defined in section 16-1 of the general statutes, that provides electric 3
transmission or distribution services to at least fifteen towns in the 4
state, a gas company or a water company, as those terms are defined in 5
section 16-1 of the general statutes, for which the Public Utilities 6
Regulatory Authority established under section 16-2 of the general 7
statutes approves rates pursuant to section 16-19 of the general 8
statutes, and (2) "municipality" means any town, city or borough, 9
consolidated town and city or consolidated town and borough. 10
(b) For assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2020, 11
any property tax assessed under chapter 203 of the general statutes on 12
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real property and motor vehicles, as defined in section 14-1 of the 13
general statutes, owned by a utility company and not otherwise 14
exempt from such tax, shall be calculated using a mill rate of fifteen 15
mills, regardless of the municipality or taxing district in which such 16
real property or motor vehicles are set. 17
Sec. 2. Section 12-81 of the general statutes is amended by adding 18
subdivision (80) as follows (Effective October 1, 2019, and applicable to 19
assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2019): 20
(NEW) (80) Any wires, poles, pipes or other fixtures that will be 21
installed or used by a utility company, as defined in section 1 of this 22
act, to distribute or transmit electricity, gas or water and are 23
warehoused in the state, until the date such wires, poles, pipes or other 24
fixtures are removed from such warehouse for installation or use in the 25
state. Any utility company claiming the exemption provided under 26
this subdivision shall file a request annually with the assessor on a 27
form prescribed by such assessor. 28
Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 12-18b of the general statutes is 29
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 30
October 1, 2019): 31
(a) For purposes of this section: 32
(1) "College and hospital property" means all real property 33
described in subsection (a) of section 12-20a; 34
(2) "District" means any district, as defined in section 7-324; 35
(3) "Qualified college and hospital property" means college and 36
hospital property described in subparagraph (B) of subdivision (2) of 37
subsection (b) of this section; 38
(4) "Qualified state, municipal or tribal property" means state, 39
municipal or tribal property described in subparagraphs (A) to (G), 40
inclusive, of subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section; 41
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(5) "Municipality" means any town, city, borough, consolidated 42
town and city and consolidated town and borough; 43
(6) "Select college and hospital property" means college and hospital 44
property described in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (2) of 45
subsection (b) of this section; 46
(7) "Select payment in lieu of taxes account" means the account 47
established pursuant to section 12-18c; 48
(8) "Select state property" means state property described in 49
subparagraph (H) of subdivision (1) of subsection (b) of this section; 50
(9) "State, municipal or tribal property" means all real property 51
described in subsection (a) of section 12-19a; 52
(10) "Tier one districts or municipalities" means the ten districts or 53
municipalities with the highest percentage of tax exempt property on 54
the list of municipalities prepared by the Secretary of the Office of 55
Policy and Management pursuant to subsection (c) of this section and 56
having a mill rate of twenty-five mills or more; 57
(11) "Tier two districts or municipalities" means the next twenty-five 58
districts or municipalities after tier one districts or municipalities with 59
the highest percentage of tax exempt property on the list of 60
municipalities prepared by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and 61
Management pursuant to subsection (c) of this section and having a 62
mill rate of twenty-five mills or more; 63
(12) "Tier three districts or municipalities" means all districts and 64
municipalities not included in tier one districts or municipalities or tier 65
two districts or municipalities; 66
(13) "Tier one municipalities" means the ten municipalities with the 67
highest percentage of tax exempt property on the list of municipalities 68
prepared by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management 69
pursuant to subsection (c) of this section and having a mill rate of 70
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twenty-five mills or more; 71
(14) "Tier two municipalities" means the next twenty -five 72
municipalities after tier one municipalities with the highest percentage 73
of tax exempt property on the list of municipalities prepared by the 74
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management pursuant to 75
subsection (c) of this section and having a mill rate of twenty-five mills 76
or more; 77
(15) "Tier three municipalities" means all municipalities not 78
included in tier one municipalities or tier two municipalities; and 79
(16) "Mill rate" means (A) prior to October 1, 2020, the mill rate on 80
real property and personal property other than motor vehicles, and (B) 81
on and after October 1, 2020, the mill rate on real property other than 82
real property owned by a utility company, as defined in section 1 of 83
this act, and personal property other than motor vehicles. 84
Sec. 4. Subsection (a) of section 12-63k of the general statutes is 85
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 86
October 1, 2019): 87
(a) As used in this section: 88
(1) "Average increase in assessed value" means, for the assessment 89
years commencing October 1, 2012, October 1, 2013, and October 1, 90
2014, the average of the increase in assessed value of commercial and 91
industrial property, and personal property used exclusively for 92
commercial or industrial purposes; 93
(2) "Base year" means the assessment year commencing October 1, 94
2014; 95
(3) "Increase from the base year" means the assessed value of 96
commercial or industrial property for the current assessment year plus 97
the current assessment year assessed value of any personal property 98
acquired after the base year to be used exclusively for commercial or 99
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industrial purposes, less the assessed value of the commercial or 100
industrial property for the base year; 101
(4) "Improvement to commercial or industrial property" or 102
"improvement" includes, but is not limited to, any personal property 103
acquired after the base year and used exclusively for commercial or 104
industrial purposes; and 105
(5) "Mill rate" means (A) prior to October 1, 2020, the mill rate on 106
real property and personal property other than motor vehicles, and (B) 107
on and after October 1, 2020, the mill rate on real property other than 108
real property owned by a utility company, as defined in section 1 of 109
this act, and personal property other than motor vehicles. 110
Sec. 5. Subsection (b) of section 12-71e of the general statutes is 111
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective 112
October 1, 2019): 113
(b) Any municipality or district may establish a mill rate for motor 114
vehicles that is different from its mill rate for real property and 115
personal property other than motor vehicles to comply with the 116
provisions of this section. No district or borough may set a motor 117
vehicle mill rate that if combined with the motor vehicle mill rate of 118
the town, city, consolidated town and city or consolidated town and 119
borough in which such district or borough is located would result in a 120
combined motor vehicle mill rate (1) above 39 mills for the assessment 121
year commencing October 1, 2016, or (2) above 45 mills for the 122
assessment year commencing October 1, 2017, and each assessment 123
year thereafter. For assessment years commencing on or after October 124
1, 2020, real property and motor vehicles owned by a utility company, 125
as defined in section 1 of this act, shall be excluded when calculating 126
such combined motor vehicle mill rate. 127
Sec. 6. Section 12-80 of the general statutes is repealed and the 128
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 129
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Real and tangible personal property not otherwise exempt from 130
property tax and owned by any company, including a foreign 131
municipal electric utility as defined in section 12-59, employed in the 132
manufacture, transmission or distribution of gas or electricity or both 133
to be used for light, heat or motive power or in the operation of a 134
system of water works for selling or distributing water or both for 135
domestic or power purposes or for two or more of such purposes shall 136
be set in the list of each town where such property is situated on its 137
assessment day and shall be liable to taxation at such percentage of its 138
fair market value as is determined by the assessors under the 139
provisions of sections 12-64 and 12-71. The provisions of this section 140
shall not affect the provisions of section 12-76. Property subject to 141
taxation under the provisions of this section shall not be subject to 142
taxation under the provisions of sections 12-77, 12-78 and 12-79. 143
Railroad companies subject to taxation under the provisions of chapter 144
210, and express, telephone and cable companies subject to taxation 145
under the provisions of chapter 211, shall not be subject to the 146
provisions of this section. 147
Sec. 7. Section 12-122a of the general statutes is repealed and the 148
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2019): 149
Any municipality [which] that has more than one taxing district 150
may by a majority vote of its legislative body set a uniform city-wide 151
mill rate for taxation of motor vehicles, except that if the charter of 152
such municipality provides that any mill rate for property tax 153
purposes shall be set by the board of finance of such municipality, 154
such uniform city-wide mill rate may be set by a majority vote of such 155
board of finance. No uniform city-wide mill rate may exceed the 156
amount set forth in section 12-71e, as amended by this act, and such 157
uniform city-wide mill rate shall not be applicable, on or after October 158
1, 2020, to motor vehicles owned by a utility company, as defined in 159
section 1 of this act. 160
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This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2019 New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2019, and
applicable to assessment
years commencing on or
after October 1, 2019
12-81
Sec. 3 October 1, 2019 12-18b(a)
Sec. 4 October 1, 2019 12-63k(a)
Sec. 5 October 1, 2019 12-71e(b)
Sec. 6 October 1, 2019 12-80
Sec. 7 October 1, 2019 12-122a
Statement of Purpose:
To establish a uniform mill rate of fifteen mills for real property and
motor vehicles owned by certain utility companies, and to provide a
property tax exemption for certain wires, poles, pipes or other fixtures
warehoused in the state until such items are installed or used in the
state.
[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.]