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OLR Bill Analysis
sHB 5367 (as amended by House “A”)*
AN ACT CONCERNING MOTOR VEHICLE MARKER PLATES FOR
CERTAIN VETERANS AND SERVICE MEMBERS, TAX RELIEF FOR
VETERANS, MUNICIPAL VETERANS SERVICES AND TECHNICAL
REVISIONS TO VETERANS' AND MILITARY AFFAIRS STATUTES.
SUMMARY
This bill establishes a local option property tax exemption for income-
qualifying veterans’ primary residences. A municipality may adopt the
exemption by a vote of its legislative body (or board of selectman if the
legislative body is a town meeting). This tax exemption is separate from
the state-mandated and local option veterans property tax exemptions
under existing law (see BACKGROUND). The local option exemptions
under existing law generally have a lower allowable income threshold
or more restrictive eligibility requirements (e.g., wartime service or a
qualifying disability) than the exemption established under the bill (§
33).
Under the bill, the exemption (1) is available to veterans with up to
$50,100 in federal adjusted gross income (AGI) and (2) equals 10% of the
assessed value of a dwelling the veteran owns and uses as a primary
residence. A “veteran” is anyone who was honorably discharged,
released under honorable conditions, or released with an other than
honorable discharge, based on a qualifying condition, from active
service in the armed forces (see BACKGROUND).
The bill also:
1. allows the motor vehicles commissioner to provide special
registration marker plates to certain individual who served while
engaged in a combat or combat support role in Afghanistan or
Iraq (§§ 1 & 2);
2. establishes an eight-member task force to evaluate state property 2022HB-05367-R01-BA.DOCX
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tax relief for veterans and make recommendations about whether
there should be tax relief adjustments (§ 31);
3. requires the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) secretary,
jointly with the veterans affairs commissioner, to annually
provide a written notice to municipalities and veterans’
organizations informing them about the property tax exemptions
that a municipality may choose to approve for veterans, veterans’
relatives or spouses, or people killed in action while on active
military duty with the armed forces (§ 34);
4. requires the veterans affairs commissioner to submit to the
Veterans’ Affairs Committee, by September 1, 2022,
recommendations for improvements regarding municipal
veterans’ representatives to ensure the consistent, effective, and
efficient provision of services (see BACKGROUND) (§ 32); and
5. makes numerous technical changes (§§ 1-30).
*House Amendment “A” (1) strikes the underlying bill’s working
group on veterans’ property tax relief and replaces it with a similarly
focused task force and (2) adds the provisions on the (a) new local option
property tax exemption and (b) written notice about permissive
municipal property tax exemptions for veterans and certain other
individuals.
EFFECTIVE DATE: October 1, 2022, except the property tax task force
and municipal veterans’ representative provisions are effective upon
passage.
§ 33 — PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION ADMINISTRATION
Veterans may not receive the bill’s local option property tax
exemption until they have proven their right to the exemption
consistent with the bill. Once proven, the exemption takes effect on the
next succeeding assessment day.
Application
The bill requires a veteran claiming an exemption to notify the town 2022HB-05367-R01-BA.DOCX
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clerk in the municipality where the residence is located that he or she is
entitled to an exemption. Veterans must apply for the exemption, in a
form prepared by the municipal assessor, by the assessment date. The
application must include either (1) a certified copy of the veteran’s
military discharge document or (2) in its absence, at least two affidavits
from disinterested individuals showing the applicant is a veteran (the
assessor may additionally require that the applicant be examined under
oath about the facts in the affidavits). It must also include the veteran’s
federal income tax return for the preceding tax year or, if one is not filed,
other evidence the assessor requires.
Under the bill, a town clerk must record the discharge documents or
affidavits in full and list the veteran’s name without payment. The bill
prohibits assessors, boards of assessment appeals, and other officials
from allowing claims for this exemption unless the required documents
are filed with the clerk. Veterans who are approved for the exemption
must file for the exemption every two years.
List of Qualifying Veterans
Municipal assessors must annually create a certified list of all
veterans who are found to qualify for an exemption under the bill. The
list must be filed in the clerk’s office and is prima facie evidence that a
veteran is entitled to an exemption, so long as he or she continues to use
the dwelling as his or her primary residence.
Additional Evidence and Personal Appearance
At any time, an assessor may require a veteran to appear before him
or her to provide additional evidence. But any veteran who is unable to
appear because of total disability may give the assessor (1) a statement
from his or her physician or nurse practitioner certifying that the veteran
is totally disabled and cannot make a personal appearance and (2) other
evidence of total disability deemed appropriate by the assessor.
Presumption of Eligibility
Under the bill, veterans who have applied and been approved for the
exemption in any year are presumed to also qualify for the exemption
in the next year following approval. During that year, the assessor must 2022HB-05367-R01-BA.DOCX
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give the veteran written notice that he or she is presumed to qualify. If
the veteran’s income exceeds $50,100, the veteran (1) must notify the
assessor by the next filing date for the exemption and (2) will be denied
the exemption until he or she has applied and qualified once again.
Veterans who fail to notify assessors of their disqualification must repay
the municipality for its property tax loss related to the improperly taken
exemption.
§§ 1 & 2 — SPECIAL REGISTRATION MARKER PLATES
This bill allows the motor vehicles commissioner to provide special
registration marker plates to individuals who received a campaign
medal and served while engaged in combat or in a combat support role
in Afghanistan (from October 24, 2001, to August 30, 2021) or Iraq (from
March 19, 2003, to December 31, 2011, and June 1, 2014, to December 9,
2021). It does so by explicitly adding these conflicts and dates to the
“period of war” definition in the veterans statutes. By law, these plates
have the words “(Name of War) Veteran” and the motor vehicles
commissioner may charge a fee for them to cover the entire cost of their
production.
§ 31 — VETERANS’ PROPERTY TAX TASK FORCE
Purpose
The bill establishes an eight-member task force to (1) evaluate state
property tax exemptions, abatements, and other relief for veterans; (2)
make recommendations about whether there should be adjustments to
the relief for it to align more effectively with the intent of the relief when
it was enacted; and (3) create a list of Connecticut municipalities with
local property tax relief and the type of relief available in each.
The task force must report its findings and recommendations to the
Veterans’ Affairs and Planning and Development committees by
January 1, 2023.
Membership and Appointments
Under the bill, the task force members must be appointed as follows:
two each by the House speaker and the Senate president pro tempore,
and one each by the House and Senate majority and minority leaders. 2022HB-05367-R01-BA.DOCX
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Task force members may also be legislators.
The bill requires (1) the initial appointments to be made within 30
days after the bill’s passage and (2) any vacancy to be filled by the
appointing authority.
Administration
The bill requires the House speaker and Senate president pro
tempore to select the task force’s chairpersons from among its
membership. The first meeting must be scheduled to occur within 60
days after the bill’s passage.
The bill requires the Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s administrative
staff to serve as the task force’s administrative staff. The task force ends
when it submits its report to the legislature or January 1, 2023,
whichever is later.
BACKGROUND
Qualifying Condition
By law, a “veteran” is anyone who was honorably discharged,
released under honorable conditions, or released with an other than
honorable discharge based on a qualifying condition from active service
in the armed forces. A “qualifying condition” is a diagnosis of post-
traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, a disclosed military
sexual trauma, or a determination that sexual orientation, gender
identity, or gender expression was more likely than not the primary
reason for the other than honorable discharge (CGS § 27-103).
Existing Veterans Property Tax Exemptions
By law, municipalities must provide property tax exemptions to
qualifying veterans who (1) served during specified wartime periods or
actions (CGS § 12-81(19)), (2) retired from service after 30 years (CGS §
12- 81(19)), or (3) have qualifying disabilities (CGS § 12-81(20) & (21)).
With their legislative bodies’ approval, municipalities may grant
certain additional exemptions (municipal-option exemptions) to these
veterans and others who do not qualify for the state-mandated 2022HB-05367-R01-BA.DOCX
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exemptions. For example, municipalities may provide a property tax
exemption to veterans who have incomes below a municipally-set
threshold and are ineligible for any of the exemptions for wartime,
retired, or disabled veterans. Under this program, a municipality may
exempt up to $5,000 or 5% of a property’s assessed value. The
municipality may set the qualifying income threshold at the OPM-set
amount or a higher amount (CGS § 12-81jj).
An individual’s eligibility for an exemption is often contingent on the
veteran’s qualifying factors, such as an income below a set threshold.
With certain exceptions, exemptions based on a veteran’s income level
use a statutorily-set threshold that OPM annually updates. For 2022, the
income limit is $38,100 for individuals and $46,400 for married joint
filers, based on 2021 income.
Municipal Veterans’ Representatives
The law requires a municipality to designate a municipal employee
or a volunteer to serve as its municipal veterans’ representative if it does
not have its own local veterans’ advisory committee or otherwise fund
a veterans’ service officer. Under the law, these representatives have the
same duties as a local veterans’ advisory committee, which may include,
among other things, coordinating the activities of public and private
facilities concerned with veteran reemployment, education,
rehabilitation, and adjustment to peacetime living.
Among other things, the municipal veterans’ representative must (1)
be a veteran or have practical experience handling veterans’ issues, (2)
take training from the Department of Veterans’ Affairs’ Office of
Advocacy and Assistance, and (3) be available to veterans a minimum
number of hours per week as the municipality may establish (CGS § 27-
135).
Related Bill
sHB 5478 (File 603), reported favorably by the Finance, Revenue and
Bonding Committee, contains nearly identical provisions concerning
the new property tax exemption and the written notice about permissive
municipal property tax exemptions for veterans and certain other 2022HB-05367-R01-BA.DOCX
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individuals.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Veterans’ Affairs Committee
Joint Favorable Substitute
Yea 16 Nay 0 (03/15/2022)