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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 6458
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 2916
Referred to Committee on AGING
Introduced by:
(AGE)
AN ACT LOWERING THE AGE OF ELIGIBILITY FOR PROPERTY TAX
RELIEF FOR SENIOR CITIZENS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 12-170v of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021, and 2
applicable to assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2021): 3
(a) For purposes of this section, "qualified taxpayer" means a person 4
who (1) in the calendar year preceding a claim for tax relief under this 5
section, was (A) sixty-five years of age or older, (B) the spouse of such 6
person, provided such spouse is domiciled with such person, or (C) a 7
surviving spouse sixty-two years of age or older of a person who had 8
qualified and was entitled to tax relief under this section at the time of 9
such person's death, provided such surviving spouse was domiciled 10
with such person at the time of the person's death; (2) occupies the real 11
property for which tax relief is sought as his or her home; (3) has been, 12
or his or her spouse has been, a resident of the state for at least one year 13
before applying for tax relief pursuant to this section and section 12-14
170w; and (4) had taxable and nontaxable income in the tax year 15 Raised Bill No. 6458
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preceding the date of application for relief under this section that was 16
not in excess of limits set forth in section 12-170aa, as adjusted annually. 17
[(a)] (b) Any municipality, upon approval of its legislative body may 18
provide that an owner of real property or any tenant for life or for a term 19
of years liable for property taxes under section 12-48 who [meets the 20
qualifications stated in this subsection] is a qualified taxpayer shall be 21
entitled to pay the tax levied on such property, calculated in accordance 22
with the provisions of subsection [(b)] (c) of this section for the first year 23
the claim for such tax relief is filed and approved in accordance with the 24
provisions of section 12-170w, and such [person] qualified taxpayer 25
shall be entitled to continue to pay the amount of such tax or such lesser 26
amount as may be levied in any year, during each subsequent year that 27
such [person meets such qualifications, and the surviving spouse of 28
such owner or tenant, qualified in accordance with the requirements 29
pertaining to a surviving spouse in this subsection] qualified taxpayer, 30
or any owner or tenant possessing a joint interest in such property with 31
such [owner] qualified taxpayer at the time of such [owner's] qualified 32
taxpayer's death and qualified at such time in accordance with the 33
requirements in this subsection, shall be entitled to continue to pay the 34
amount of such tax or such lesser amount as may be levied in any year, 35
as it becomes due each year following the death of such [owner] 36
taxpayer for as long as such [surviving spouse or] joint owner or joint 37
tenant is qualified in accordance with the requirements in this 38
[subsection] section. After the first year a claim for such tax relief is filed 39
and approved, application for such tax relief shall be filed biennially on 40
a form prepared for such purpose by the assessor of such municipality. 41
Any such [owner or tenant who is qualified in accordance with this 42
section and any such surviving spouse] qualified taxpayer or joint 43
owner or joint tenant surviving upon the death of such [owner or tenant] 44
qualified taxpayer, shall be entitled to pay such tax in the amount as 45
provided in this section for so long as such [owner or tenant or such 46
surviving spouse] qualified taxpayer or joint owner or joint tenant 47
continues to be so qualified. [To qualify for the tax relief provided in this 48
section a taxpayer shall meet all the following requirements: (1) On 49 Raised Bill No. 6458
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December thirty-first of the calendar year preceding the year in which a 50
claim is filed, be (A) seventy years of age or over, (B) the spouse of a 51
person, seventy years of age or over, provided such spouse is domiciled 52
with such person, or (C) sixty-two years of age or over and the surviving 53
spouse of a taxpayer who at the time of such taxpayer's death had 54
qualified and was entitled to tax relief under this section, provided such 55
surviving spouse was domiciled with such taxpayer at the time of the 56
taxpayer's death, (2) occupy such real property as his or her home, (3) 57
either spouse shall have resided within this state for at least one year 58
before filing the claim under this section and section 12-170w, (4) the 59
taxable and nontaxable income of such taxpayer, the total of which shall 60
hereinafter be called "qualifying income", in the tax year of such 61
homeowner ending immediately preceding the date of application for 62
benefits under the program in this section, was not in excess of limits set 63
forth in section 12-170aa, as adjusted annually, evidence of which 64
income shall be submitted] A claimant for relief under this section shall 65
submit evidence of income to the assessor in the municipality in which 66
application for benefits under this section is filed in such form and 67
manner as the assessor may prescribe. The amount of any Medicaid 68
payments made on behalf of such [homeowner or the spouse of such 69
homeowner] claimant or such claimant's spouse shall not constitute 70
income. The income of the spouse of such [homeowner] claimant shall 71
not be included in the qualifying income of such [homeowner] claimant 72
for purposes of determining eligibility for tax relief under this section, 73
if such spouse is a resident of a health care or nursing home facility in 74
this state, and such facility receives payment related to such spouse 75
under the Title XIX Medicaid program. In addition to the eligibility 76
requirements prescribed in [this] subsection (a) of this section, any 77
municipality that provides tax relief in accordance with the provisions 78
of this section may impose asset limits as a condition of eligibility for 79
such tax relief. 80
[(b)] (c) The tax on the real property for which the benefits under this 81
section are claimed shall be the lower of: The tax due with respect to the 82
[homeowner's] qualified taxpayer's residence for the assessment year 83 Raised Bill No. 6458
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commencing October first of the year immediately preceding the year 84
in which the initial claim for tax relief is made, or the tax due for any 85
subsequent assessment year. If title to real property is recorded in the 86
name of the [person or the spouse making a claim and qualifying under 87
this section] qualified taxpayer and any other person or persons, the 88
[claimant hereunder] qualified taxpayer shall be entitled to pay [the 89
claimant's] his or her fractional share of the tax on such property 90
calculated in accordance with the provisions of this section, and such 91
other person or persons shall pay the person's or persons' fractional 92
share of the tax without regard for the provisions of this section. For the 93
purposes of this section, a "mobile manufactured home", as defined in 94
section 12-63a, shall be deemed to be real property. 95
[(c)] (d) If any person with respect to whom a claim for tax relief in 96
accordance with this section and section 12-170w has been approved for 97
any assessment year transfers, assigns, grants or otherwise conveys 98
subsequent to the first day of October, but prior to the first day of 99
August in such assessment year the interest in real property to which 100
such claim for tax relief is related, regardless of whether such transfer, 101
assignment, grant or conveyance is voluntary or involuntary, the 102
amount of such tax relief benefit, determined as the amount by which 103
the tax payable without benefit of this section exceeds the tax payable 104
under the provisions of this section, shall be a pro rata portion of the 105
amount otherwise applicable in such assessment year to be determined 106
by a fraction the numerator of which shall be the number of full months 107
from the first day of October in such assessment year to the date of such 108
conveyance and the denominator of which shall be twelve. If such 109
conveyance occurs in the month of October the grantor shall be 110
disqualified for such tax relief in such assessment year. The grantee shall 111
be required within a period not exceeding ten days immediately 112
following the date of such conveyance to notify the assessor thereof, or 113
in the absence of such notice, upon determination by the assessor that 114
such transfer, assignment, grant or conveyance has occurred, the 115
assessor shall determine the amount of tax relief benefit to which the 116
grantor is entitled for such assessment year with respect to the interest 117 Raised Bill No. 6458
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in real property conveyed and notify the tax collector of the reduced 118
amount of such benefit. Upon receipt of such notice from the assessor, 119
the tax collector shall, if such notice is received after the tax due date in 120
the municipality, no later than ten days thereafter mail or hand a bill to 121
the grantee stating the additional amount of tax due as determined by 122
the assessor. Such tax shall be due and payable and collectible as other 123
property taxes and subject to the same liens and processes of collection, 124
provided such tax shall be due and payable in an initial or single 125
installment not sooner than thirty days after the date such bill is mailed 126
or handed to the grantee and in equal amounts in any remaining, 127
regular installments as the same are due and payable. 128
(e) A municipality may, by vote of its legislative body, set a minimum 129
age for tax relief under this section that is older than sixty-five for an 130
otherwise qualified taxpayer. No municipality, which by vote of its 131
legislative body prior to October 1, 2021, limited tax relief under this 132
section to persons seventy years of age and older, shall be required to 133
take another vote unless it is seeking to lower the age of eligibility in 134
accordance with this section. 135
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021, and
applicable to assessment
years commencing on or
after October 1, 2021
12-170v
AGE Joint Favorable C/R PD