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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 1135
January Session, 2019
AN ACT CONCERNING TH E MUNICIPAL INTEREST RATE
APPLICABLE TO DELINQ UENT PROPERTY TAXES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 12-146 of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 2
(a) Unless the context otherwise requires, wherever used in this 3
section, "tax" includes each property tax and each installment and part 4
thereof due to a municipality as it may have been increased by interest, 5
fees and charges. 6
(b) (1) If any tax due in a single installment or if any installment of 7
any tax due in two or more installments is not paid in full [(1)] (A) on 8
or before the first day of the month next succeeding the month in 9
which it became due and payable, or if not due and payable on the first 10
day of the month, [(2)] (B) on or before the same date of the next 11
succeeding month corresponding to that of the month on which it 12
became due and payable, the whole or such part of such installment as 13
is unpaid shall thereupon be delinquent and shall be subject to interest 14
from the due date of such delinquent installment. 15
(2) Except for unpaid real estate taxes the collection of which was, or 16
is, deferred under the provisions of section 12-174, and any 17
predecessor and successor thereto, which unpaid real estate taxes 18
continue to be subject to the provisions of such deferred collection 19 Substitute Bill No. 1135
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statutes, the delinquent portion of the principal of any tax shall be 20
subject to interest at the rate of eighteen per cent per annum from the 21
time when it became due and payable until the same is paid, subject to 22
a minimum interest charge of two dollars per installment which any 23
municipality, by vote of its legislative body or, in the case of a 24
municipality in which the legislative body is a town meeting, its board 25
of selectmen, may elect not to impose. [, and provided, in] In any 26
computation of such interest, under any provision of this section, each 27
fractional part of a month in which any portion of the principal of such 28
tax remains unpaid shall be considered to be equivalent to a whole 29
month. Each addition of interest shall become, and shall be collectible 30
as, a part of such tax. Interest shall accrue at said rate until payment of 31
such taxes due notwithstanding the entry of any judgment in favor of 32
the municipality against the taxpayer or the property of the taxpayer. 33
(3) Any municipality, by vote of its legislative body or, in the case of 34
a municipality in which the legislative body is a town meeting, its 35
board of selectmen, may approve a rate of interest of less than eighteen 36
per cent per annum for the purposes of this section. 37
(c) The collector shall apply each partial payment to the wiping out 38
of such interest before making any application thereof to the reduction 39
of such principal. If any tax, at the time of assessment or because of a 40
subsequent division, represents two or more items of property, the 41
collector may receive payment in full of such part of the principal and 42
interest of such tax as represents one or more of such items, even 43
though interest in full on the entire amount of the principal of such tax 44
has not been received up to the date of such payment; in which event, 45
interest on the remaining portion of the principal of any such tax shall 46
be computed, as the case may be, from the due date of such tax if no 47
other payment after delinquency has been made or from the last date 48
of payment of interest in full on the whole amount or unpaid balance 49
of the principal of such delinquent tax if previous payment of interest 50
has been made. Each collector shall keep a separate account of such 51
interest and the time when the same has been received and shall pay 52 Substitute Bill No. 1135
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over the same to the treasurer of the municipality of the collector as a 53
part of such tax. 54
(d) No tax or installment thereof shall be construed to be delinquent 55
under the provisions of this section if [(A)] (1) such tax or installment 56
was paid through a municipal electronic payment service within the 57
time allowed by statute for payment of such tax or installment, or [(B)] 58
(2) the envelope containing the amount due as such tax or installment, 59
as received by the tax collector of the municipality to which such tax is 60
payable, bears a postmark showing a date within the time allowed by 61
statute for the payment of such tax or installment. 62
(e) Any municipality may, by vote of its legislative body [,] or, in the 63
case of a municipality in which the legislative body is a town meeting, 64
its board of selectmen, may require that any delinquent property taxes 65
shall be paid only in cash or by certified check or money order. Any 66
municipality adopting such requirement may provide that such 67
requirement shall only be applicable to delinquency exceeding a 68
certain period in duration as determined by such municipality. [Any] 69
(f) Each municipality shall waive all or a portion of the interest due 70
and payable under this section on a delinquent tax with respect to a 71
taxpayer who has received compensation under chapter 968 as a crime 72
victim. 73
Sec. 2. Subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of section 12-80a of the 74
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 75
thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 76
(2) The person responsible for the collection of taxes for each town, 77
city or borough owed taxes under this subsection may, at such time as 78
such tax becomes delinquent as provided in sections 12-146, as 79
amended by this act, and 12-169, subject such tax to interest (A) at the 80
rate of one and one-half per cent of such tax for each month or fraction 81
thereof [which] that elapses from the time when such tax becomes due 82
and payable until the same is paid, or (B) if a town, city or borough has 83 Substitute Bill No. 1135
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approved a lower rate of interest pursuant to subdivision (3) of 84
subsection (b) of section 12-146, as amended by this act, at the per-85
month rate of such tax for each month or fraction thereof that elapses 86
from the time when such tax becomes due and payable until the same 87
is paid. 88
Sec. 3. Section 12-145 of the general statutes is repealed and the 89
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2019): 90
(a) The tax collector of each municipality shall, at least five days 91
next preceding the time when each tax becomes due and payable, give 92
notice of the time and place at which the tax collector will receive such 93
tax by advertising in a newspaper published in such municipality or, if 94
no newspaper is published in such municipality, by advertising in any 95
newspaper of the state having a general circulation in such 96
municipality and by posting such notice on a signpost, a bulletin board 97
or the municipality's Internet web site. The tax collector shall repeat 98
such advertising within one week after such tax has become due and 99
payable and, again, at least five days before such tax becomes 100
delinquent. Each such notice shall give each date on which such tax 101
shall become due and payable and each date on which such tax shall 102
become delinquent, and shall state that, as soon as such tax becomes 103
delinquent, it shall be subject to interest (1) at the rate of one and one-104
half per cent of such tax for each month or fraction thereof [which] that 105
elapses from the time when such tax becomes due and payable until 106
the same is paid, or (2) if a municipality has approved a lower rate of 107
interest pursuant to subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of section 12-146, 108
as amended by this act, at the per-month rate of such tax for each 109
month or fraction thereof that elapses from the time when such tax 110
becomes due and payable until the same is paid. 111
(b) The tax collector of a municipality may waive the interest on 112
delinquent property taxes if the tax collector and the assessor, jointly, 113
determine that the delinquency is attributable to an error by the tax 114
assessor or tax collector and is not the result of any action or failure on 115
the part of the taxpayer. The tax collector shall notify the taxing 116 Substitute Bill No. 1135
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authority of the municipality of all waivers granted pursuant to this 117
section. 118
Sec. 4. Subsection (f) of section 12-157 of the general statutes is 119
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 120
1, 2019): 121
(f) Within sixty days after such sale, the collector shall cause to be 122
published in a newspaper having a daily general circulation in the 123
town in which the real property is located, and shall send by certified 124
mail, return receipt requested, to the delinquent taxpayer and each 125
mortgagee, lienholder and other encumbrancer of record whose 126
interest in such property is choate and is affected by such sale, a notice 127
stating the date of the sale, the name and address of the purchaser, the 128
amount the purchaser paid for the property and the date the 129
redemption period will expire. The notice shall include a statement 130
that if redemption does not take place by the date stated and in the 131
manner provided by law, the delinquent taxpayer, and all mortgagees, 132
lienholders and other encumbrancers who have received actual or 133
constructive notice of such sale as provided by law, that their 134
respective titles, mortgages, liens, restraints on alienation and other 135
encumbrances in such property shall be extinguished. After such 136
notice is published, and not later than six months after the date of the 137
sale or within sixty days if the property was abandoned or meets other 138
conditions established by ordinance adopted by the legislative body of 139
the municipality, if the delinquent taxpayer, mortgagee, lienholder or 140
other encumbrancer whose interest in the property will be affected by 141
such sale, pays to the collector, the amount of taxes, interest and 142
charges which were due and owing at the time of the sale together 143
with interest on the total purchase price paid by the purchaser at the 144
rate of eighteen per cent per annum from the date of such sale or, if the 145
municipality has approved a lower rate of interest pursuant to 146
subdivision (3) of subsection (b) of section 12-146, as amended by this 147
act, at such lower rate of interest, plus any taxes and debts owed to the 148
municipality that were not recovered by the sale and any additional 149 Substitute Bill No. 1135
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charges under section 12-140, such deed, executed pursuant to 150
subsection (e) of this section, shall be delivered to the collector by the 151
town clerk for cancellation and the collector shall provide a certificate 152
of satisfaction to the person paying the money who, if not the person 153
whose primary duty it was to pay the tax or taxes, shall have a claim 154
against the person whose primary duty it was to pay such tax or taxes 155
for the amount so paid, and may add the same with the equivalent 156
precedence, rate of interest and priority as the tax paid over other 157
nongovernmental encumbrances but without precedence or priority 158
over any state or municipal tax lien or any tax that was not yet due and 159
payable when notice of the levy was first published to any claim for 160
which he has security upon the property sold, provided the certificate 161
of satisfaction is recorded on the land records but the interests of other 162
persons in the property shall not be affected. [Within] Not later than 163
ten days [of] after receipt of such amounts in redemption of the levied 164
property, the collector shall notify the purchaser by certified mail, 165
return receipt requested, that the property has been redeemed and 166
shall tender such payment, together with the amount held pursuant to 167
subparagraph (A) of subdivision (1) of subsection (i) of this section, if 168
any, to the purchaser. If the purchase money and interest are not paid 169
within such redemption period, the deed shall be recorded and have 170
full effect. 171
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2019 12-146
Sec. 2 July 1, 2019 12-80a(b)(2)
Sec. 3 July 1, 2019 12-145
Sec. 4 July 1, 2019 12-157(f)
Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
Sections 3 and 4 were added for consistency with Sections 1 and 2.
FIN Joint Favorable Subst.