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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 993
January Session, 2021
LCO No. 4233
Referred to Committee on ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY
Introduced by:
(ET)
AN ACT REMOVING THE PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTI ON FOR SOLAR
PROJECTS AND RECLASS IFYING THE TAX CALCULATION OF
SOLAR PROJECTS ON SI NGLE PARCELS OF LAND .
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subdivision (57) of section 12-81 of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2021, and applicable to tax assessment years commencing on and after 3
October 1, 2021): 4
(57) (A) (i) Any Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 5
16-1, or hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection 6
(a) of section 16-1, installed for the generation of electricity capacity 7
greater than seven megawatts for private residential use or on a farm, 8
as defined in subsection (q) of section 1-1, provided such installation 9
occurs on or after October 1, 2007, and further provided such installation 10
is for a single family dwelling, a multifamily dwelling consisting of two 11
to four units or a farm, (ii) any passive or active solar water or space 12
heating system, or (iii) any geothermal energy resource. In the case of 13
clause (i) of this subparagraph, such installations occurring on a single 14 Raised Bill No. 993
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parcel of land shall aggregate the nameplate capacity of each installation 15
in the written application pursuant to subparagraph (E) of this section. 16
In the case of clause (ii) or (iii) of this subparagraph, such exemption 17
shall apply only to the amount by which the assessed valuation of the 18
real property equipped with such system or resource exceeds the 19
assessed valuation of such real property equipped with the 20
conventional portion of the system or resource; 21
(B) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2013, 22
any Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, 23
hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of 24
section 16-1, or solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source, 25
installed for generation or displacement of energy, provided (i) such 26
installation occurs on or after January 1, 2010, (ii) such installation is for 27
commercial or industrial purposes, (iii) the nameplate capacity of such 28
source or facility does not exceed the load for the location where such 29
generation or displacement is located, and (iv) such source or facility is 30
located in a distressed municipality, as defined in section 32-9p, with a 31
population between one hundred twenty-five thousand and one 32
hundred thirty-five thousand; 33
(C) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2013, 34
any municipality may, upon approval by its legislative body or in any 35
town in which the legislative body is a town meeting, by the board of 36
selectmen, abate up to one hundred per cent of property tax for any 37
Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, hydropower 38
facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of section 16-1, or 39
solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source, installed for 40
generation or displacement of energy, provided (i) such installation 41
occurs between January 1, 2010, and December 31, 2013, (ii) such 42
installation is for commercial or industrial purposes, (iii) the nameplate 43
capacity of such source or facility does not exceed the load for the 44
location where such generation or displacement is located, and (iv) such 45
source or facility is not located in a municipality described in 46
subparagraph (B) of this subdivision; 47 Raised Bill No. 993
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(D) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2014, 48
any (i) Class I renewable energy source, as defined in section 16-1, (ii) 49
hydropower facility described in subdivision (21) of subsection (a) of 50
section 16-1, or (iii) solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy 51
source, installed for generation or displacement of energy, provided (I) 52
such installation occurs on or after January 1, 2014, (II) is for commercial 53
or industrial purposes, (III) the nameplate capacity of such source or 54
facility does not exceed the load for the location where such generation 55
or displacement is located or the aggregated load of the beneficial 56
accounts for any Class I renewable energy source participating in virtual 57
net metering pursuant to section 16-244u, and (IV) in the case of clause 58
(iii) of this subparagraph, such exemption shall apply only to the 59
amount by which the assessed valuation of the real property equipped 60
with such source exceeds the assessed valuation of such real property 61
equipped with the conventional portion of the source; 62
(E) Any person claiming the exemption provided in this subdivision 63
for any assessment year shall, on or before the first day of November in 64
such assessment year, file with the assessor or board of assessors in the 65
town in which such hydropower facility, Class I renewable energy 66
source, solar thermal or geothermal renewable energy source or passive 67
or active solar water or space heating system or geothermal energy 68
resource is located, a written application claiming such exemption. 69
Failure to file such application in the manner and form as provided by 70
such assessor or board within the time limit prescribed shall constitute 71
a waiver of the right to such exemption for such assessment year. Such 72
application shall not be required for any assessment year following that 73
for which the initial application is filed, provided if such hydropower 74
facility, Class I renewable energy source, solar thermal or geothermal 75
renewable energy source or passive or active solar water or space 76
heating system or geothermal energy resource is altered in a manner 77
which would require a building permit, such alteration shall be deemed 78
a waiver of the right to such exemption until a new application, 79
applicable with respect to such altered source, is filed and the right to 80
such exemption is established as required initially; 81 Raised Bill No. 993
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(F) For assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2015, 82
any municipality may, by vote of its legislative body or, in a 83
municipality where the legislative body is a town meeting, by vote of 84
the board of selectmen, abate up to one hundred per cent of the property 85
taxes due for any tax year, for not longer than the term of the power 86
purchase agreement, with respect to any Class I renewable energy 87
source, as defined in section 16-1, that is the subject of such power 88
purchase agreement approved by the Public Utilities Regulatory 89
Authority pursuant to section 16a-3f; 90
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2021, and
applicable to tax
assessment years
commencing on and after
October 1, 2021
12-81(57)
Statement of Purpose:
To remove the property tax exemption for solar projects under seven
megawatts and reclassify the tax calculation of solar projects on single
parcels of land.
[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.]