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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 998
January Session, 2023
LCO No. 3734
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
Introduced by:
(PD)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING A TAX ABATEMENT FOR CERTAIN
CONSERVATION EASEMENTS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2023, and applicable to assessment 1
years commencing on or after October 1, 2023) (a) For the purposes of this 2
section, (1) "nonprofit land conservation organization" means a 3
nonprofit land conservation organization that is tax exempt under 4
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any 5
subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, 6
as amended from time to time, (2) "greenway" has the same meaning as 7
provided in section 23-100 of the general statutes, and (3) "conservation 8
restriction" has the same meaning as provided in section 47-42a of the 9
general statutes. 10
(b) Any municipality may establish, by ordinance, a program to 11
provide for the abatement of real property taxes due on any portion of 12
land that (1) meets the criteria for designation as a greenway established 13
under subsection (b) of section 23-102 of the general statutes, (2) is a 14
terrestrial recreational trail with a clearly defined trail corridor that does 15 Raised Bill No. 998
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not exceed one hundred feet in width at its widest point, and (3) is 16
subject to a recorded permanent conservation easement conveyed by the 17
owner of the land, or such owner's predecessor in title, to the 18
municipality, the state or a nonprofit land conservation organization, 19
provided such conservation easement or any other encumbrance on the 20
land shall not prohibit the public use of any such greenway for 21
compatible recreation. 22
(c) Whenever any municipality enacts an ordinance that provides for 23
the abatement of taxes pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, an 24
owner of land may apply for its abatement under such ordinance by 25
filing a written application for such abatement with the assessor of such 26
municipality. Any application filed under this subsection shall be made 27
upon a form prescribed by the assessor and shall include (1) a 28
description of the land, (2) a copy of the recorded permanent 29
conservation easement concerning such greenway, (3) a certified land 30
survey that depicts the boundaries of such greenway on the land of such 31
owner, and (4) such other information as the assessor may require to aid 32
in determining whether such land qualifies for such tax abatement 33
pursuant to such ordinance. Any certification of a survey required by 34
this subsection shall be made by a licensed surveyor and such 35
certification shall be made in accordance with chapter 390 of the general 36
statutes. 37
(d) Not later than thirty days after receipt of a written application 38
under subsection (c) of this section, the assessor shall submit such 39
written application with the assessor's recommendation to either 40
approve or deny the tax abatement based on the criteria set forth in 41
subsection (b) of this section to the legislative body of the municipality 42
or, in a municipality where the legislative body is a town meeting, to the 43
board of selectmen. 44
(e) The abatement of any real property taxes under subsection (b) of 45
this section shall be approved by vote of the legislative body of the 46
municipality or, in a municipality where the legislative body is a town 47
meeting, by vote of the board of selectmen. 48 Raised Bill No. 998
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(f) Any abatement under this section shall continue upon the sale or 49
transfer of the land unless the legislative body of the municipality, or in 50
a municipality where the legislative body is a town meeting, the board 51
of selectmen, votes to discontinue such abatement. 52
Sec. 2. Subsection (a) of section 12-107e of the general statutes is 53
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 54
1, 2023): 55
(a) The planning commission of any municipality, in preparing a plan 56
of conservation and development for such municipality, may designate 57
upon such plan areas which it recommends for preservation as areas of 58
open space land, provided such designation is approved by a majority 59
vote of the legislative body of such municipality. Land, or a portion 60
thereof, including any terrestrial recreational trail corridor that meets 61
the criteria for designation as a greenway pursuant to chapter 454, 62
included in any area so designated upon such plan as finally adopted 63
may be classified as open space land for purposes of property taxation 64
or payments in lieu thereof if there has been no change in the use of such 65
area which has adversely affected its essential character as an area of 66
open space land between the date of the adoption of such plan and the 67
date of such classification. 68
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2023, and
applicable to assessment
years commencing on or
after October 1, 2023
New section
Sec. 2 October 1, 2023 12-107e(a)
Statement of Purpose:
To authorize municipalities to exempt from real property taxes any
portion of land that (1) qualifies as a greenway, (2) is a terrestrial
recreational trail that does not exceed one hundred feet in width, (3) is
the subject of a conservation easement conveyed by the owner of the
land to a municipality, the state or a nonprofit land conservation Raised Bill No. 998
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organization, and (4) to specify that a greenway trail corridor may be
deemed open space 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.]