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OLR Bill Analysis
HB 7067
Emergency Certification
AN ACT CONCERNING AN EMERGENCY CERTIFICATE OF NEED
APPLICATION PROCESS FOR TRANSFERS OF OWNERSHIP OF
HOSPITALS THAT HAVE FILED FOR BANKRUPTCY PROTECTION,
THE ASSESSMENT OF MOTOR VEHICLES FOR PROPERTY
TAXATION, A PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION FOR VETERANS WHO
ARE PERMANENTLY AND TOTALLY DISABLED AND FUNDING OF
THE SPECIAL EDUCATION EXCESS COST GRANT.
SUMMARY
This bill implements several provisions related to (1) establishing a
new emergency certificate of need (CON) process, (2) creating an option
for municipalities to adopt a modified depreciation schedule for
vehicles, and (3) adjusting the property tax exemption for permanently
and totally disabled veterans.
Specifically, the bill establishes a separate emergency CON process
for bankruptcy-related hospital ownership transfers and sets
application, public hearing, and other related requirements (§ 1).
Beginning with the 2024 assessment year (i.e., for tax bills sent out
beginning July 1, 2025), the bill also allows municipalities to adopt a
modified depreciation schedule for vehicles, generally increasing their
values for property tax purposes, and establishes requirements for them
to do so (§ 2).
The bill also modifies the property tax exemption for veterans with a
permanent and total disability to specify that the exemption applies to
veterans if they have been determined by the U.S. Department of
Veterans Affairs (U.S. DVA) to be permanently and totally disabled
based on a service-connected disability rating of 100% (§ 4).
Additionally, it makes a conforming change to another property tax
exemption for disabled veterans (§ 5). 2025HB-07067-R00-BA.DOCX
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Related to these changes concerning property taxes, the bill also
generally (1) allows municipalities, by April 15, 2025, to amend their
2024 grand lists; (2) allows aggrieved taxpayers a 30-day period to file
assessment appeals; and (3) requires municipal boards of assessment
appeals to hear appeals over a specified 16-day period. It also allows
municipalities that have adopted budgets or levied taxes for FY 26 to
amend them by June 15, 2025 (§§ 3 & 6).
Lastly, the bill also makes a change to the FY 25 appropriations for
the excess cost grant (§ 7, see fiscal note).
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage, except that provisions modifying
property tax exemptions are effective from passage and applicable to
assessment years starting on or after October 1, 2024.
§ 1 — EMERGENCY CERTI FICATE OF NEED FOR BANKRUPTCY-
RELATED HOSPITAL OWNERSHIP TRANSFERS
By law, the Office of Health Strategy’s (OHS) Health Systems
Planning Unit (HSPU) administers the state’s CON program for health
care entities. Under this program, health care entities must generally
receive CON approval when establishing new facilities or services,
changing ownership, acquiring certain equipment, or terminating
certain services.
The bill establishes a separate emergency CON process for the
ownership transfer of hospitals (1) that applied to a court for bankruptcy
protection and (2) whose potential buyer has been or must be approved
by the bankruptcy court. Regardless of the state’s existing CON law,
transacting parties involved in such a hospital’s ownership transfer may
apply, at the OHS commissioner’s discretion, to OHS for an emergency
CON through this new process the bill establishes.
Under the bill, an emergency CON issued by HSPU and any
conditions imposed on it, apply to (1) the applicant, (2) the hospital
subject to the ownership transfer, and (3) any subsidiary or group
practice that would otherwise require a CON under existing law that is
also subject to the ownership transfer as part of the bankruptcy
proceeding. 2025HB-07067-R00-BA.DOCX
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The bill provides that the new emergency CON process does not
affect any existing CON issued under existing law.
Application Submission
The bill requires HSPU to develop an emergency CON application
that identifies any required data submission necessary to analyze the
hospital ownership transfer’s effects on health care costs, quality, and
access in the affected market. If the hospital’s potential buyer is a for-
profit entity, the application may require additional information or data
to ensure the hospital’s ongoing operation post-transfer maintains the
public interest.
Applicants must submit an emergency CON application as the OHS
commissioner prescribes, and she must post the application on the OHS
website. Under the bill, the commissioner may change the application’s
required data submission, so long as she posts the change on the OHS
website at least 15 days before it takes effect.
An application is deemed complete on the date HSPU determines the
applicant submitted a complete application, including any required
data submission. The bill requires HSPU to make this determination
within three business days after the submission.
Under the bill, if HSPU determines an application is incomplete, it
must notify the applicant within three business days after making the
determination and identify any inadequate information or data. HSPU
cannot review an application until the applicant submits the requested
information or data.
Public Hearings and Comments
Under the bill, HSPU may hold a public hearing on an emergency
CON application if it does so within 30 days after it determines the
application is complete and notifies the applicant at least five days
before the hearing date. The public may submit comments at any time
during the application process and may request that HSPU use its
discretion to hold a public hearing.
Public hearings or other proceedings related to the emergency CON 2025HB-07067-R00-BA.DOCX
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process are not considered a contested case under the Uniform
Administrative Procedure Act.
Application Review
When reviewing an application, the bill authorizes HSPU to consult
with anyone and consider any relevant information. Unless it is
prohibited by federal or state law, the bill requires HSPU to include any
opinion or information it gathers when doing so in the application
record and cite it in the unit’s final decision on the application.
Third-Party Consultants
The bill authorizes HSPU to contract with third-party consultants to
analyze (1) the anticipated effect of the hospital ownership transfer on
health care access, cost, and quality in the affected community and (2)
any other issues arising from the application review process.
Under the bill, HSPU must include in the application record any of
the consultants’ reports or analyses that the unit considered when
issuing its final decision, unless federal or state law prohibits it.
The applicant must pay for the consultants, whose aggregated costs
cannot exceed $200,000. The bill specifies that these retainer agreements
are not subject to specified existing laws on (1) the Department of
Administrative Services, (2) consultant and personal service agreements
with the state, and (3) methods for awarding state contracts.
Final Decisions
The bill requires HSPU to issue a final decision on an emergency
CON application within 60 days after it determines the application is
complete. The final decision must (1) express the anticipated effect of
the hospital’s ownership transfer on health care access, cost, and quality
in the affected community, and (2) assess the transfer’s effect on health
care market concentration and Medicaid recipients’ access to health
care.
When issuing a final decision, the bill requires HSPU to consider the
effect of the hospital’s bankruptcy on the patients and communities the
hospital serves and the applicant’s plans to restore the hospital’s 2025HB-07067-R00-BA.DOCX
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financial viability.
Under the bill, HSPU’s final decision on an emergency CON
application, including any conditions imposed on its approval (see
below), cannot be appealed.
Conditional Approval
Under the bill, HSPU may impose conditions on an approved
application, so long as the conditions are (1) consistent with the state’s
existing CON program and (2) reasonable in time and scope. Before
imposing a condition, the unit must weigh the value of doing so in
promoting the existing CON program’s purpose with the cumulative
burden on the applicant and other transacting parties.
If HSPU imposes conditions on its approval, its final decision must
include a concise statement of (1) the legal and factual basis for the
condition and (2) which health care criterion (i.e., access in the affected
area, cost, or quality) the condition intends to promote.
Under the bill, an applicant or other transacting party may request,
in a manner HSPU sets, an amendment to or relief from any condition
due to changed circumstances, hardship, or other good cause. HSPU
may grant or deny the request.
§ 2 — OPTIONAL MOTOR V EHICLE DEPRECIATION SCHEDULE
Current law requires municipal assessors to value vehicles using
their manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP), subject to a 20-year
depreciation schedule. Beginning with the 2024 assessment year (i.e., for
tax bills sent out beginning July 1, 2025), the bill allows municipalities
to adopt a modified depreciation schedule for vehicles. The modified
schedule generally increases, by five percentage points, the taxable
portion of a vehicle’s MSRP that is subject to property tax. By law, a
vehicle’s property tax assessment equals its depreciated MSRP value
multiplied by 70%.
To adopt the modified schedule, the municipality’s legislative body
(or board of selectmen where the body is a town meeting) must vote in
favor of it. The municipality must then provide certain notice to the 2025HB-07067-R00-BA.DOCX
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Office of Policy and Management (OPM).
The bill also allows municipalities that published a grand list before
the bill’s passage to make certain adjustments to their 2024 grand lists
and FY 26 budgets and tax levies, subject to certain conditions (see §§ 3
& 6).
Modified Depreciation Schedule
As shown in the table below, the bill allows municipalities to adopt a
modified schedule that values new vehicles (up to one year old) at 90%
of their MSRPs, rather than 85%, and correspondingly increases the
values for older vehicles by five percentage points. By law, unchanged
by the bill, the minimum assessment amount is $500.
Table: Valuations Under the Current Schedule
and the Bill’s Optional Modified Schedule
Vehicle Age
(in years)
% of MSRP
Current
Schedule
Modified
Schedule
Up to 1 85 90
2 80 85
3 75 80
4 70 75
5 65 70
6 60 65
7 55 60
8 50 55
9 45 50
10 40 45
11 35 40
12 30 35
13 25 30
14 20 25
15-19 15 20
20+ ≥ $500 ≥ $500
Notice to OPM
If a municipality adopts the bill’s modified schedule, it must notify
OPM within 14 days. The notice must specify the first assessment year 2025HB-07067-R00-BA.DOCX
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the municipality will begin using the modified schedule and be
provided in a form and way the OPM secretary sets.
§§ 4 & 5 — PERMANENT AND TOTAL VETERAN P ROPERTY TAX
EXEMPTION
PA 24-46 fully exempted from property tax a primary dwelling or
motor vehicle for each former member of the armed services (i.e.,
veteran) who has a service-connected permanent and total disability
rating (often referred to as “P&T rating”) from the U.S. DVA (see
BACKGROUND). This bill instead specifies that a veteran qualifies for
the exemption if he or she is determined by the U.S. DVA to be
permanently and totally disabled based on a 100% service-connected
disability rating. It also makes conforming changes.
By law, if the qualifying veteran dies, the exemption may transfer to
his or her surviving spouse or minor children subject to certain
conditions. The bill allows the transferred exemption to apply to eligible
property belonging to the qualifying veteran’s minor children, as well
as property held in trust for them as current law allows.
§§ 3 & 6 — GRAND LIST ADJUSTMENTS, T AX APPEALS, AND
BUDGET AND TAX LEVY CHANGES
The bill authorizes municipalities that adopted a 2024 grand list
before the bill’s passage to make certain adjustments to their 2024 grand
lists and FY 26 budgets and tax levies. For towns that choose to make
these adjustments, the bill allows taxpayers to appeal their assessments
and sets procedural requirements for these appeals hearings. The bill
also provides similar, overlapping authority specifically for
municipalities that adopted the bill’s modified motor vehicle
depreciation schedule (see § 2).
Adjustments to 2024 Grand Lists
Current law generally requires municipal assessors to publish the
grand lists for their towns by January 31 annually, unless they are
granted an extension under the law. The bill authorizes any municipal
assessor that published the grand list for the October 1, 2024, assessment
year (i.e., the 2024 grand list) before the bill’s passage to disregard, 2025HB-07067-R00-BA.DOCX
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adjust, and republish the grand list by April 15, 2025. (Under the
provision specific to municipalities that adopted a modified
depreciation schedule, municipalities may only adjust their grand lists
to reflect the newly adopted depreciation schedule (§ 3). It is unclear if
they could make other adjustments, unrelated to the depreciation
schedule, under the bill’s broader authorization (§ 6).)
Extended Assessment Appeals Period
The bill allows taxpayers in towns that published their 2024 grand
lists before the bill’s passage who are aggrieved by an assessor’s actions
to appeal those actions to the town’s board of assessment appeals during
the 30 days after the bill’s passage. It does so regardless of the laws that
generally set the deadline for filing these appeals by February 20.
The bill requires the boards to meet to hear appeals over a 16-day
period, from 45 to 60 days after the bill’s passage. As under existing law,
they must hear the appeals on business days, which may be Saturdays.
The bill’s timelines allow towns to provide notice before a hearing,
but its procedures do not require it. Under the bill, the boards of
assessment appeals must, within 60 days after the bill’s passage, notify
each taxpayer who filed an appeal with either (1) the appeal hearing’s
date, time, and place or (2) a determination that the board has elected
not to hold an appeal hearing. In doing so, it notwithstands the law that
(1) requires boards to hold a hearing on any appeal except those for
commercial, industrial, utility, or apartment properties assessed at over
$1 million; (2) requires boards to notify these appellants by March 1
about their decision not to hold a hearing; and (3) allows these
appellants to appeal the board’s decision not to hold a hearing directly
to Superior Court.
Submission of Corrected 2024 Grand List
Under the bill, municipal assessors in these towns must, within 90
days after the bill’s passage, transmit a report (abstract) of the grand list
that the board of assessment appeals examined and corrected to the
Office of Policy and Management secretary. It does so regardless of the
law that requires them to file this report by May 1. 2025HB-07067-R00-BA.DOCX
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FY 26 Budget and Tax Adjustments
The bill authorizes municipalities that have already adopted a budget
or levied taxes for FY 26 to adjust them by June 15, 2025. Municipalities
must (1) amend their budgets in the same way they originally adopted
them and (2) adjust their tax levy and any remaining tax installments. If
they levied a tax for FY 26 due in a single installment, they may mail or
hand deliver taxpayers a supplemental tax bill for any additional taxes
resulting from the adjusted tax levy. (Under the provision specific to
municipalities that adopted a modified motor vehicle depreciation
schedule, municipalities may only amend their budgets to reflect the
newly adopted depreciation schedule (§ 3). It is unclear if they could
make other changes, unrelated to the depreciation schedule, under the
broader authorization (§ 6).)
The bill allows municipalities to make these adjustments regardless
of any conflicting requirements in special acts, municipal charters, home
rule ordinances, or laws on municipalities or levying and collecting
property taxes.
BACKGROUND
100% Property Tax Exemption for Veterans With P&T Rating
By law, to qualify for the exemption, the veteran must (1) have served
in the U.S. Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Air Force, or Space
Force; (2) reside in the state; and (3) file for the exemption with the town
assessor as the law requires. The exemption applies to either (1) a
primary dwelling the veteran owns, which may include a condominium
or unit in a common interest community, or (2) one motor vehicle kept
in this state if the veteran does not own a dwelling. If the veteran does
not own sufficient property to use the exemption, the veteran’s spouse
may claim it if they live together.