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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 5168
February Session, 2022
LCO No. 613
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)
AN ACT CONCERNING PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTIONS FOR
PROPERTY USED FOR CHARITABLE PURPOSES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subdivision (7) of section 12-81 of the 2022 supplement to 1
the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2
thereof (Effective October 1, 2022, and applicable to assessment years 3
commencing on or after October 1, 2022): 4
(7) (A) Subject to the provisions of sections 12-87 and 12-88, the real 5
property of, or held in trust for, a corporation organized exclusively for 6
scientific, educational, literary, historical or charitable purposes or for 7
two or more such purposes and used exclusively for carrying out one or 8
more of such purposes or for the purpose of preserving open space land, 9
as defined in section 12-107b, for any of the uses specified in said section, 10
that is owned by any such corporation, and the personal property of, or 11
held in trust for, any such corporation, provided (i) any officer, member 12
or employee thereof does not receive or at any future time shall not 13
receive any pecuniary profit from the operations thereof, except 14
reasonable compensation for services in effecting one or more of such 15 Raised Bill No. 5168
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purposes or as proper beneficiary of its strictly charitable purposes, and 16
(ii) in 1965, and quadrennially thereafter, a statement shall be filed on or 17
before [the first day of] November first with the assessor or board of 18
assessors of any town, consolidated town and city or consolidated town 19
and borough, in which any of its property claimed to be exempt is 20
situated. Such statement shall be filed on [a form provided by such 21
assessor or board of assessors] the form developed and provided 22
pursuant to subsection (b) of section 12-89, as amended by this act. Such 23
form shall be posted on the Internet web site of such assessor or board 24
of assessors, if applicable. The real property shall be eligible for the 25
exemption regardless of whether it is used by another corporation 26
organized exclusively for scientific, educational, literary, historical or 27
charitable purposes or for two or more such purposes; 28
(B) On and after [July 1, 1967] October 1, 2022, housing subsidized, in 29
whole or in part, by federal, state or local government and housing for 30
persons or families of low and moderate income shall not constitute a 31
charitable purpose under this section. As used in this subdivision, 32
"housing" shall not include real property used for [temporary] housing 33
belonging to, or held in trust for, any corporation organized exclusively 34
for charitable purposes and exempt from taxation for federal income tax 35
purposes, the primary use of which property is one or more of the 36
following: (i) An orphanage; (ii) a drug or alcohol treatment or 37
rehabilitation facility; (iii) housing for persons who are homeless, 38
persons with a mental health disorder, persons with intellectual or 39
physical disability or victims of domestic violence; (iv) housing for ex-40
offenders or for individuals participating in a program sponsored by the 41
state Department of Correction or Judicial Branch; [and] or (v) short-42
term housing operated by a charitable organization where the average 43
length of stay is less than six months. The operation of such housing, 44
including the receipt of any rental payments, by such charitable 45
organization shall be deemed to be an exclusively charitable purpose. 46
For the purposes of this subdivision, payments made by federal, state or 47
local government for the treatment, support or care of individuals 48
housed in the real property described in subparagraphs (B)(i) to (B)(v), 49 Raised Bill No. 5168
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inclusive, of this subdivision shall not constitute housing subsidies; 50
Sec. 2. Section 12-89 of the general statutes is repealed and the 51
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2022, and 52
applicable to assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2022): 53
(a) The board of assessors of each town, consolidated town and city 54
or consolidated town and borough shall inspect the statements filed 55
with it [and required by] pursuant to sections 12-81, as amended by this 56
act, and 12-87 from scientific, educational, literary, historical, charitable, 57
agricultural and cemetery organizations, and shall determine what part, 58
if any, of the property claimed to be exempt by the organization [shall 59
be] is in fact exempt. [and] The board of assessors shall place a valuation 60
upon [all] any such property [, if any, as is] found to be taxable. [, 61
provided any] Any property acquired by any tax-exempt organization 62
after [the first day of] October first shall first become exempt on the 63
assessment date next succeeding the date of acquisition. For assessment 64
years commencing on or after October 1, 2022, if the board of assessors 65
determines that property claimed to be exempt is taxable, the board of 66
assessors shall state upon its records the rationale for such 67
determination. Any organization filing a tax-exempt statement, 68
aggrieved at the action of the assessor or board of assessors, may appeal, 69
within the time prescribed by law for such appeals, to the board of 70
assessment appeals. Any such organization claiming to be aggrieved by 71
the action of the board of assessment appeals may, within two months 72
from the time of such action, make application in the nature of an appeal 73
therefrom to the superior court for the judicial district in which such 74
property is situated. 75
(b) Not later than September 1, 2022, the Office of Policy and 76
Management shall, in consultation with the Connecticut Community 77
Nonprofit Alliance and the Connecticut Association of Assessing 78
Officers, develop and provide to boards of assessors a form for use for 79
assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2022, on which (1) 80
statements shall be filed pursuant to subparagraph (A) of subdivision 81
(7) of section 12-81, as amended by this act, and (2) boards of assessors 82 Raised Bill No. 5168
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shall determine whether a property is exempt from taxation pursuant to 83
subsection (a) of this section. Such form shall include, but not be limited 84
to, instruction concerning how such determinations shall be made. 85
Sec. 3. Section 12-119 of the general statutes is repealed and the 86
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022, and 87
applicable to assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2022): 88
(a) When it is claimed that a tax has been laid on property not taxable 89
in the town or city in whose tax list such property was set, or that a tax 90
laid on property was computed on an assessment which, under all the 91
circumstances, was manifestly excessive and could not have been 92
arrived at except by disregarding the provisions of the statutes for 93
determining the valuation of such property, the owner thereof or any 94
lessee thereof whose lease has been recorded as provided in section 47-95
19 and who is bound under the terms of his lease to pay real property 96
taxes, prior to the payment of such tax, may, in addition to the other 97
remedies provided by law, make application for relief to the superior 98
court for the judicial district in which such town or city is situated. Such 99
application may be made within one year from the date as of which the 100
property was last evaluated for purposes of taxation and shall be served 101
and returned in the same manner as is required in the case of a summons 102
in a civil action, and the pendency of such application shall not suspend 103
action upon the tax against the applicant. In all such actions, the 104
Superior Court shall have power to grant such relief upon such terms 105
and in such manner and form as to justice and equity appertains, and 106
costs may be taxed at the discretion of the court. If such assessment is 107
reduced by said court, the applicant shall be reimbursed by the town or 108
city for any overpayment of taxes in accordance with the judgment of 109
said court. 110
(b) When it is claimed that an assessor or board of assessors denied a 111
tax exemption filed pursuant to subdivision (7) of section 12-81, as 112
amended by this act, or section 12-87, for reasons that could not have 113
been arrived at except by disregarding the provisions of the statutes for 114
determining the exemption of such property from taxation, and a tax 115 Raised Bill No. 5168
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was laid on the property that was the subject of such filing, the owner 116
thereof may, in addition to the other remedies provided by law, make 117
application for relief to the superior court for the judicial district for the 118
town or city in which such property is situated. Such application may 119
be made not later than one year after the date as of which the property 120
was last denied exemption and shall be served and returned in the same 121
manner as is required in the case of a summons in civil action, and the 122
pendency of such application shall not suspend action upon the tax 123
against the applicant. In all such actions, if the court determines a tax 124
exemption was denied for reasons that could not have been arrived at 125
except by disregarding the provisions of the statutes for determining the 126
exemption of such property from taxation, and a tax was laid on such 127
property, the court shall have power to grant such relief upon such 128
terms and in such manner and form as to justice and equity appertains, 129
and costs and attorney's fees may be taxed at the discretion of the court. 130
If such tax exemption is granted by said court, the applicant shall be 131
reimbursed by the town or city for any overpayment of taxes in 132
accordance with the judgment of said court. 133
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2022, and
applicable to assessment
years commencing on or
after October 1, 2022
12-81(7)
Sec. 2 July 1, 2022, and
applicable to assessment
years commencing on or
after October 1, 2022
12-89
Sec. 3 October 1, 2022, and
applicable to assessment
years commencing on or
after October 1, 2022
12-119
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) require the Office of Policy and Management to develop and
provide a form for (A) filing certain tax exemption applications, and (B) Raised Bill No. 5168
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making determinations on such applications, (2) specify that payments
made by federal, state or local governments for the treatment, support
or care of certain individuals shall not constitute housing subsidies for
the purposes of determining what is a charitable purpose, (3) require
assessors to state the rationale for the denial of a property tax exemption
for charitable purposes on their records, and (4) authorize owners of
certain property to apply for relief from the Superior Court in the event
that such an exemption is wrongfully denied by assessors.
[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.]