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General Assembly Substitute Bill No. 5168
February Session, 2022
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the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 2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
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 Substitute Bill No. 5168
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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, as 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
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 Substitute Bill No. 5168
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applicable to assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2022): 53
(a) The assessor or board of assessors of each town, consolidated 54
town and city or consolidated town and borough shall inspect the 55
statements filed with it [and required by] pursuant to sections 12-81, as 56
amended by this act, and 12-87 from scientific, educational, literary, 57
historical, charitable, agricultural and cemetery organizations, and shall 58
determine what part, if any, of the property claimed to be exempt by the 59
organization [shall be] is in fact exempt. [and] The assessor or board of 60
assessors shall place a valuation upon [all] any such property [, if any, 61
as is] found to be taxable. [, provided any] Any property acquired by 62
any tax-exempt organization after [the first day of] October first shall 63
first become exempt on the assessment date next succeeding the date of 64
acquisition. For assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 65
2022, if the assessor or board of assessors determines that property 66
claimed to be exempt is taxable, the assessor or board of assessors shall 67
state upon its records the rationale for such determination. Any 68
organization filing a tax-exempt statement, aggrieved at the action of 69
the assessor or board of assessors, may appeal, within the time 70
prescribed by law for such appeals, to the board of assessment appeals. 71
Any such organization claiming to be aggrieved by the action of the 72
board of assessment appeals may, within two months from the time of 73
such action, make application in the nature of an appeal therefrom to 74
the superior court for the judicial district in which such property is 75
situated. 76
(b) Not later than September 1, 2022, the Office of Policy and 77
Management shall, in consultation with the Connecticut Community 78
Nonprofit Alliance and the Connecticut Association of Assessing 79
Officers, develop and provide to assessors and boards of assessors a 80
form for use for assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 81
2022, on which (1) statements shall be filed pursuant to subparagraph 82
(A) of subdivision (7) of section 12-81, as amended by this act, and (2) 83
assessors and boards of assessors shall determine whether a property is 84
exempt from taxation pursuant to subsection (a) of this section. Such 85 Substitute Bill No. 5168
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form shall include, but not be limited to, instruction concerning how 86
such determinations shall be made. 87
Sec. 3. Section 12-119 of the general statutes is repealed and the 88
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2022, and 89
applicable to assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2022): 90
(a) When it is claimed that a tax has been laid on property not taxable 91
in the town or city in whose tax list such property was set, or that a tax 92
laid on property was computed on an assessment which, under all the 93
circumstances, was manifestly excessive and could not have been 94
arrived at except by disregarding the provisions of the statutes for 95
determining the valuation of such property, the owner thereof or any 96
lessee thereof whose lease has been recorded as provided in section 47-97
19 and who is bound under the terms of his lease to pay real property 98
taxes, prior to the payment of such tax, may, in addition to the other 99
remedies provided by law, make application for relief to the superior 100
court for the judicial district in which such town or city is situated. Such 101
application may be made within one year from the date as of which the 102
property was last evaluated for purposes of taxation and shall be served 103
and returned in the same manner as is required in the case of a summons 104
in a civil action, and the pendency of such application shall not suspend 105
action upon the tax against the applicant. In all such actions, the 106
Superior Court shall have power to grant such relief upon such terms 107
and in such manner and form as to justice and equity appertains, and 108
costs may be taxed at the discretion of the court. If such assessment is 109
reduced by said court, the applicant shall be reimbursed by the town or 110
city for any overpayment of taxes in accordance with the judgment of 111
said court. 112
(b) When it is claimed that an assessor or board of assessors denied a 113
tax exemption filed pursuant to subdivision (7) of section 12-81, as 114
amended by this act, or section 12-87, for reasons that could not have 115
been arrived at except by disregarding the provisions of the statutes for 116
determining the exemption of such property from taxation, and a tax 117
was laid on the property that was the subject of such filing, the owner 118 Substitute Bill No. 5168
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thereof may, in addition to the other remedies provided by law, make 119
application for relief to the superior court for the judicial district for the 120
town or city in which such property is situated. Such application may 121
be made not later than one year after the date as of which the property 122
was last denied exemption and shall be served and returned in the same 123
manner as is required in the case of a summons in civil action, and the 124
pendency of such application shall not suspend action upon the tax 125
against the applicant. In all such actions, if the court determines a tax 126
exemption was denied for reasons that could not have been arrived at 127
except by disregarding the provisions of the statutes for determining the 128
exemption of such property from taxation, and a tax was laid on such 129
property, the court shall have power to grant such relief upon such 130
terms and in such manner and form as to justice and equity appertains, 131
and costs and attorney's fees may be taxed at the discretion of the court. 132
If such tax exemption is granted by said court, the applicant shall be 133
reimbursed by the town or city for any overpayment of taxes in 134
accordance with the judgment of said court. 135
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
Substitute Bill No. 5168
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Statement of Legislative Commissioners:
In Section 1(7)(A), "if applicable" was changed to "as applicable" for
clarity, and in Section 2, "assessor or" and "assessors and" were inserted
before "boards of assessors" throughout for consistency.
PD Joint Favorable Subst. -LCO