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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 1556
January Session, 2025
LCO No. 7053
Referred to Committee on FINANCE, REVENUE AND
BONDING
Introduced by:
(FIN)
AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE CONNECTICUT APPEALS BOARD FOR
PROPERTY VALUATION.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. (NEW) (Effective from passage) (a) There is established a 1
Connecticut appeals board for property valuation, which shall be within 2
the Office of Policy and Management for administrative purposes only, 3
to hear appeals upon the application of any person claiming to be 4
aggrieved by an action of a municipal assessor with respect to the 5
assessment list for the assessment year commencing October 1, 2025, or 6
any assessment year thereafter. 7
(b) (1) The Connecticut appeals board for property valuation shall 8
consist of five members appointed by the Governor, with the advice and 9
consent of both houses of the General Assembly. Four of the members 10
shall each have not less than ten years' experience related to the 11
appraisal or assessment of real and personal property, with at least three 12
years of such experience immediately preceding such appointment 13
having been attained primarily in the state. One member, appointed by 14
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the Governor as the chairperson of said board, shall be a member of the 15
bar of the state who has engaged in the practice of law for not less than 16
ten years and has substantial experience, as determined by the 17
Governor, related to the appraisal or assessment of real and personal 18
property. The Governor shall not appoint more than three members of 19
the same political party as the Governor to said board. 20
(2) All initial appointments to said board shall be made not later than 21
September 1, 2025. (A) The initial terms of two members, one of whom 22
shall be the chairperson of said board, shall terminate on September 1, 23
2031, regardless of when the initial appointments were made, (B) the 24
initial terms of two members shall terminate on September 1, 2030, 25
regardless of when the initial appointments were made, and (C) the 26
initial term of one member shall terminate on September 1, 2029, 27
regardless of when the initial appointment was made. Subsequent terms 28
shall be for six years. Any vacancy shall be filled by the Governor. Any 29
vacancy occurring other than by expiration of term shall be filled for the 30
balance of the unexpired term. Three members of the board shall 31
constitute a quorum for the transaction of any business of said board. 32
(3) The members of said board shall serve on a full-time basis and 33
shall receive an annual salary equivalent to ninety per cent of the annual 34
salary of a judge of the Superior Court under section 51-47 of the general 35
statutes, except that the chairperson of said board shall receive an 36
annual salary equal to the annual salary of a judge of the Superior Court 37
under said section. 38
(4) No member of said board shall, during the term of such member's 39
appointment, (A) act as an attorney, an assessor, an appraiser, an 40
accountant or a counselor in any matter related directly or indirectly to 41
the substance of a matter before said board, any court in the state or any 42
municipal assessor in the state, or (B) participate in any action of said 43
board related to any matter with respect to which such member has 44
previously participated in any manner as an attorney, an assessor, an 45
appraiser, an accountant or a counselor. 46
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(5) Any member of said board may be removed upon (A) the 47
recommendation of the Governor, subject to approval by a majority vote 48
of each house of the General Assembly, or (B) the recommendation of 49
any member of the General Assembly, subject to approval by a vote of 50
at least two-thirds of each house of the General Assembly. 51
(6) (A) Prior to said board accepting any applications under 52
subsection (c) of this section, the chairperson of said board shall notify 53
the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management of the date said 54
board will begin accepting such applications. The secretary shall certify 55
such date and notify the chief executive officer of each municipality of 56
such date. 57
(B) All boards of assessment appeals shall continue to operate until 58
such certified date and any matter pending before any such board shall 59
be transferred to the Connecticut appeals board for property valuation, 60
provided any decision made by a board of assessment appeals prior to 61
such certified date shall be valid. 62
(c) (1) Any person, including any lessee of real property whose lease 63
has been recorded as provided in section 47-19 of the general statutes 64
and who is bound under the terms of such lease to pay property taxes 65
on such property, claiming to be aggrieved by an action of a municipal 66
assessor with respect to the assessment list for the assessment year 67
commencing October 1, 2025, or any assessment year thereafter, may 68
make application, not later than two months after the date of such 69
action, in the nature of an appeal therefrom to the Connecticut appeals 70
board for property valuation. The application shall be accompanied by 71
a citation to the municipality to appear before said board and a filing fee 72
to be determined pursuant to regulations adopted in accordance with 73
the provisions of chapter 54 of the general statutes. 74
(2) Any such appeal from the action of a municipal assessor shall be 75
an original proceeding and heard de novo by said board. Such appeal 76
shall not be limited to the arguments, issues and evidence presented to 77
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the municipal assessor or such assessor's designee. 78
(3) The pendency of such application shall not suspend an action by 79
the municipality to collect not more than seventy-five per cent of the tax 80
assessed. 81
(A) If, during the pendency of such application, a new assessment 82
year begins, the applicant may amend such application as to any matter 83
therein, including an appeal related to such new assessment year, that 84
is affected by the inception of such new year and such applicant need 85
not appear before the municipal assessor to make such amendment 86
effective. 87
(B) If, during the pendency of such application, it appears to said 88
board that any portion of the action of the municipal assessor that is 89
being appealed is not affected by the issues raised in such appeal, said 90
board may, on a motion or on its own motion, render a judgment 91
directing compliance by the taxpayer with that portion not affected by 92
such appeal. 93
(d) The Connecticut appeals board for property valuation shall, upon 94
receipt of an application under subsection (c) of this section, hold a 95
hearing on such application. Notice of the hearing shall be provided to 96
the applicant and the municipal assessor, by certified mail or, with the 97
consent of the applicant, by electronic mail, not later than twenty-one 98
days before such hearing. Whenever the application is related to 99
property for which the assessed value is less than one million dollars or 100
that is a real estate parcel used exclusively for a single-family residential 101
dwelling, the chairperson of said board may assign such application to 102
a single member of the board for purposes of the hearing. Upon 103
completion of the hearing, the assigned member shall submit findings 104
and determinations related to such application to the entire membership 105
of said board for its consideration. All hearings of said board shall be 106
held in the city of Hartford, except that hearings may be held at other 107
locations in the state at the discretion of said board. Hearings may be 108
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conducted by telephonic, video or other conferencing platforms, with 109
the consent of the applicant. 110
(e) The Connecticut appeals board for property valuation shall issue 111
a decision affirming, modifying or reversing the action of the municipal 112
assessor not later than ninety days after the hearing and shall send a 113
copy of such decision to the applicant and the municipal assessor by 114
certified mail or, with the consent of the applicant, by electronic mail. 115
Such decision shall include said board's findings and conclusions of law. 116
If said board determines during a hearing that any taxable property has 117
been omitted from the grand list by a municipal assessor, said board 118
may add such taxable property to the grand list of such municipality in 119
accordance with the provisions of section 12-115 of the general statutes, 120
as amended by this act. 121
(f) Any party aggrieved by a decision of the Connecticut appeals 122
board for property valuation may appeal in accordance with the 123
provisions of section 2 of this act. 124
(g) The Connecticut appeals board for property valuation shall not 125
consider any application filed by any person that has an application 126
filed with the Superior Court concerning the action of a board of tax 127
review or board of assessment appeals with respect to the assessment 128
list for any assessment year commencing prior to October 1, 2025, so 129
long as the application filed with the Superior Court remains pending, 130
if the application filed with said board is based on essentially the same 131
facts and questions of law as are contained in the application before the 132
Superior Court. 133
(h) The Connecticut appeals board for property valuation shall 134
provide any information concerning applications filed with and 135
hearings conducted by said board that the Secretary of the Office of 136
Policy and Management requires to carry out the secretary's duties 137
under chapter 203 of the general statutes. 138
(i) The Connecticut appeals board for property valuation shall adopt 139
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regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54 of the 140
general statutes, to establish requirements for the operational processes 141
of said board, including the commencement of proceedings, prehearing 142
conferences, motion practice, required discovery, the conduct of 143
hearings, the treatment of and penalties for frivolous applications, the 144
fee to be charged, if any, for filing an application and any other matters 145
said board deems necessary to implement the provisions of this section. 146
Said board may waive any filing fee established pursuant to this 147
subsection for good cause. 148
(j) Commencing in calendar year 2027 and annually thereafter, the 149
Connecticut appeals board for property valuation shall submit a report, 150
in accordance with the provisions of section 11-4a of the general statutes, 151
to the joint standing committees of the General Assembly having 152
cognizance of matters relating to local governments and finance, 153
revenue and bonding, setting forth, for the preceding calendar year, the 154
number of applications received by said board, the municipalities for 155
which such applications were filed, the number of hearings held by said 156
board, the number of decisions issued by said board and the outcomes 157
of such decisions and any other information said board deems relevant 158
to its duties. 159
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective upon the date certified by the Secretary of the 160
Office of Policy and Management that the Connecticut appeals board for 161
property valuation will begin accepting applications) (a) Any person, 162
including any lessee of real property whose lease has been recorded as 163
provided in section 47-19 of the general statutes and who is bound 164
under the terms of such lease to pay property taxes on such property, 165
claiming to be aggrieved by an action of a municipal assessor may make 166
application, not later than two months after the date of the mailing of 167
notice of such action, in the nature of an appeal therefrom to the superior 168
court for the judicial district in which such municipality is situated, 169
which shall be accompanied by a citation to such municipality to appear 170
before such court. Such citation shall be signed by the same authority 171
and such appeal shall be returnable at the same time and served and 172
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returned in the same manner as is required in case of a summons in a 173
civil action. The authority issuing the citation shall take from the 174
applicant a bond or recognizance to such municipality, with surety, to 175
prosecute the application to effect and to comply with and conform to 176
the orders and decrees of the court in the premises. Any such application 177
shall be a preferred case, to be heard, unless good cause appears to the 178
contrary, at the first session, by the court or by a committee appointed 179
by the court. The pendency of such application shall not suspend an 180
action by such municipality to collect not more than seventy-five per 181
cent of the tax so assessed or not more than ninety per cent of such tax 182
with respect to any real property for which the assessed value is five 183
hundred thousand dollars or more, and upon which such appeal is 184
taken. If, during the pendency of such appeal, a new assessment year 185
begins, the applicant may amend the application as to any matter 186
therein, including an appeal for such new year, that is affected by the 187
inception of such new year and such applicant need not appear before 188
the municipal assessor to make such amendment effective. 189
(b) The court shall have power to grant such relief as to justice and 190
equity appertains, upon such terms and in such manner and form as 191
appear equitable and, if the application appears to have been made 192
without probable cause, may tax double or triple costs, as the case 193
appears to demand. Costs may be taxed upon all such applications at 194
the discretion of the court. If the assessment made by the municipal 195
assessor is reduced by the court, the applicant shall be reimbursed by 196
the municipality for any overpayment of taxes, together with interest 197
and any costs awarded by the court or, at the applicant's option, shall be 198
granted a tax credit for such overpayment, interest and any costs 199
awarded by the court. Upon motion, the court shall, in the event of such 200
overpayment, enter judgment in favor of such applicant and against 201
such municipality for the whole amount of such overpayment, less any 202
lien recording fees incurred under sections 7-34a and 12-176 of the 203
general statutes, together with interest and any costs awarded by the 204
court. The amount to which the assessment is so reduced shall be the 205
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assessed value of such property on the grand lists for succeeding years 206
until the municipal assessor finds that the value of the applicant's 207
property has increased or decreased. 208
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 from passage New section
Sec. 2 upon the date certified by
the Secretary of the Office
of Policy and Management
that the Connecticut
appeals board for property
valuation will begin
accepting applications
New section
Statement of Purpose:
To establish the Connecticut appeals board for property valuation to
hear property tax appeals in lieu of boards of assessment appeals.
[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.]