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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 695
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 2651
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)
AN ACT CONCERNING PE NALTIES FOR FAILURE TO FILE CERTAIN
PROPERTY TAX ASSESSM ENT INFORMATION AND CONT INGENCY
AGREEMENTS FOR EXPER T TESTIMONY IN CERTAIN TAX
ASSESSMENT APPEALS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 12-63c of the general statutes is repealed and the 1
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2021): 2
(a) In determining the present true and actual value in any town of 3
real property used primarily for purposes of producing rental income, 4
the assessor, which term whenever used in this section shall include 5
assessor or board of assessors, may require in the conduct of any 6
appraisal of such property pursuant to the capitalization of net income 7
method, as provided in section 12-63b, that the owner of such property 8
annually submit to the assessor not later than [the first day of] June first, 9
on a form provided by the assessor not later than forty-five days before 10
[said first day of] June first, the best available information disclosing the 11
actual rental and rental-related income and operating expenses 12
applicable to such property. Submission of such information may be 13
required whether or not the town is conducting a revaluation of all real 14 Raised Bill No. 695
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property pursuant to section 12-62. Upon determination that there is 15
good cause, the assessor may grant an extension [of not more than thirty 16
days] to not later than July first to submit such information, if the owner 17
of such property files a request for an extension with the assessor not 18
later than [May] June first. 19
(b) Any such information related to actual rental and rental-related 20
income and operating expenses and not already a matter of public 21
record that is submitted to the assessor shall not be subject to the 22
provisions of section 1-210. 23
(c) If upon receipt of information as required under subsection (a) of 24
this section the assessor finds that such information does not appear to 25
reflect actual rental and rental-related income or operating expenses 26
related to the current use of such property, additional verification 27
concerning such information may be requested by the assessor. All 28
information received by the assessor under subsection (a) of this section 29
shall be subject to audit by the assessor or a designee of the assessor. 30
Any person claiming to be aggrieved by the action of the assessor 31
[hereunder] under this section may appeal the actions of the assessor to 32
the board of assessment appeals and the Superior Court as otherwise 33
provided in this chapter. Any assessment adjusted by such board under 34
the provisions of section 12-117 for any such property shall be subject to 35
the penalties provided in subsection (d) of this section. 36
(d) (1) Any owner of such [real] property required to submit 37
information to the assessor in accordance with subsection (a) of this 38
section for any assessment year, who fails to submit such information as 39
required under said subsection (a) or who submits information in 40
incomplete or false form with intent to defraud, shall (A) be subject to a 41
penalty equal to a ten per cent increase in the assessed value of such 42
property for such assessment year, and (B) for the assessment year 43
commencing October 1, 2020, and each assessment year thereafter, be 44
subject to a penalty equal to ten per cent of the current assessment year's 45
assessment, which the assessor shall add by issuance of a certificate of 46
correction (i) for failure to file by June first of the current assessment 47 Raised Bill No. 695
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year, and (ii) for each subsequent assessment year for such failure. Upon 48
receipt of any such certificate of correction from the assessor, the tax 49
collector of the town shall apply the mill rate for the current assessment 50
year and, if such certificate of correction is received after the normal 51
billing date, not later than thirty days after such receipt, mail or hand 52
deliver a bill to such owner based upon the addition of the penalty 53
described in subparagraph (B) of this subdivision. Such tax shall be due 54
and payable and collectible as other municipal taxes and subject to the 55
same liens and processes of collection, provided such tax shall be due 56
and payable in an initial or single installment due and payable not 57
sooner than thirty days after the date such bill is mailed or handed to 58
such owner, and in any remaining, regular installments, as such 59
installments are due and payable, and the several installments of a tax 60
so due and payable shall be equal. 61
(2) Any disclosure form described in subsection (a) of this section 62
received by the town to which such form is due that is in an envelope 63
bearing a postmark, as defined in section 1-2a, showing a date within 64
the allowed filing period shall not be deemed to be delinquent. 65
(3) Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, an assessor or 66
board of assessment appeals shall waive such penalty if the owner of 67
the real property required to submit the information is not the owner of 68
such property on the assessment date for the grand list to which such 69
penalty is added. Such assessor or board may waive such penalty upon 70
receipt of such information in any town in which the legislative body 71
adopts an ordinance allowing for such a waiver. 72
Sec. 2. Section 12-117a of the general statutes is repealed and the 73
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2021): 74
(a) Any person, including any lessee of real property whose lease has 75
been recorded as provided in section 47-19 and who is bound under the 76
terms of his lease to pay real property taxes, claiming to be aggrieved 77
by the action of the board of tax review or the board of assessment 78
appeals, as the case may be, in any town or city may, within two months 79 Raised Bill No. 695
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from the date of the mailing of notice of such action, make application, 80
in the nature of an appeal therefrom, with respect to the assessment list 81
for the assessment year commencing October 1, 1989, October 1, 1990, 82
October 1, 1991, October 1, 1992, October 1, 1993, October 1, 1994, or 83
October 1, 1995, and with respect to the assessment list for assessment 84
years thereafter, to the superior court for the judicial district in which 85
such town or city is situated, which shall be accompanied by a citation 86
to such town or city to appear before said court. Such citation shall be 87
signed by the same authority and such appeal shall be returnable at the 88
same time and served and returned in the same manner as is required 89
in case of a summons in a civil action. The authority issuing the citation 90
shall take from the applicant a bond or recognizance to such town or 91
city, with surety, to prosecute the application to effect and to comply 92
with and conform to the orders and decrees of the court in the premises. 93
Any such application shall be a preferred case, to be heard, unless good 94
cause appears to the contrary, at the first session, by the court or by a 95
committee appointed by the court. The pendency of such application 96
shall not suspend an action by such town or city to collect not more than 97
seventy-five per cent of the tax so assessed or not more than ninety per 98
cent of such tax with respect to any real property for which the assessed 99
value is five hundred thousand dollars or more, and upon which such 100
appeal is taken. If, during the pendency of such appeal, a new 101
assessment year begins, the applicant may amend his application as to 102
any matter therein, including an appeal for such new year, which is 103
affected by the inception of such new year and such applicant need not 104
appear before the board of tax review or board of assessment appeals, 105
as the case may be, to make such amendment effective. The court shall 106
have power to grant such relief as to justice and equity appertains, upon 107
such terms and in such manner and form as appear equitable, and, if the 108
application appears to have been made without probable cause, may tax 109
double or triple costs, as the case appears to demand; and, upon all such 110
applications, costs may be taxed at the discretion of the court. If the 111
assessment made by the board of tax review or board of assessment 112
appeals, as the case may be, is reduced by said court, the applicant shall 113
be reimbursed by the town or city for any overpayment of taxes, 114 Raised Bill No. 695
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together with interest and any costs awarded by the court, or, at the 115
applicant's option, shall be granted a tax credit for such overpayment, 116
interest and any costs awarded by the court. Upon motion, said court 117
shall, in event of such overpayment, enter judgment in favor of such 118
applicant and against such city or town for the whole amount of such 119
overpayment, less any lien recording fees incurred under sections 7-34a 120
and 12-176, together with interest and any costs awarded by the court. 121
The amount to which the assessment is so reduced shall be the assessed 122
value of such property on the grand lists for succeeding years until the 123
tax assessor finds that the value of the applicant's property has increased 124
or decreased. 125
(b) No person who is compensated on a contingency basis for expert 126
testimony concerning the value of an applicant's property shall testify 127
in any appeal brought pursuant to this section. 128
Sec. 3. Section 12-119 of the general statutes is repealed and the 129
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2021): 130
(a) When it is claimed that a tax has been laid on property not taxable 131
in the town or city in whose tax list such property was set, or that a tax 132
laid on property was computed on an assessment which, under all the 133
circumstances, was manifestly excessive and could not have been 134
arrived at except by disregarding the provisions of the statutes for 135
determining the valuation of such property, the owner thereof or any 136
lessee thereof whose lease has been recorded as provided in section 47-137
19 and who is bound under the terms of his lease to pay real property 138
taxes, prior to the payment of such tax, may, in addition to the other 139
remedies provided by law, make application for relief to the superior 140
court for the judicial district in which such town or city is situated. Such 141
application may be made within one year from the date as of which the 142
property was last evaluated for purposes of taxation and shall be served 143
and returned in the same manner as is required in the case of a summons 144
in a civil action, and the pendency of such application shall not suspend 145
action upon the tax against the applicant. In all such actions, the 146
Superior Court shall have power to grant such relief upon such terms 147 Raised Bill No. 695
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and in such manner and form as to justice and equity appertains, and 148
costs may be taxed at the discretion of the court. If such assessment is 149
reduced by said court, the applicant shall be reimbursed by the town or 150
city for any overpayment of taxes in accordance with the judgment of 151
said court. 152
(b) No person who is compensated on a contingency basis for expert 153
testimony concerning the value of an applicant's property shall testify 154
in any application for relief brought pursuant to this section. 155
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 July 1, 2021 12-63c
Sec. 2 July 1, 2021 12-117a
Sec. 3 July 1, 2021 12-119
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) impose a certain penalty on owners of certain real property for
failure to file certain information requested by the assessor, (2) allow for
filings postmarked within the applicable filing period to be deemed not
delinquent, (3) apply existing billing practices to tax bills issued to such
owners, and (4) prohibit the use of certain expert witnesses in certain tax
assessment appeals 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.]