FIRE DEPARTMENTS; PROPERTY TAX; TAX EXEMPTIONS;

TAX EXEMPTIONS;

You asked if towns can abate the property taxes on a home owned and occupied by the spouse of volunteer firefighter who died in the line of duty. You also wanted to know if towns could remove the abatement if the spouse remarries or moves to another home. The Office of Legislative Research cannot give legal opinions and you should not regard this memo as one.

CAN TOWNS ABATE THE PROPERTY TAXES ON A HOME OWNED AND OCCUPIED BY THE SPOUSE OF A VOLUNTEER FIREFIGHTER WHO DIED IN THE LINE OF DUTY?

It appears that CGS § 12-81x allows towns to abate the taxes on the spouse’s home. This law authorizes the abatement for the surviving spouses of firefighters, without qualification or exception, and the legislative record is silent on whether the legislature intended this option only for paid firefighters.

CAN TOWNS TERMINATE THE ABATEMENT UNDER CGS § 12-81X IF THE SURVIVING SPOUSE REMARRIES OR SELLS THE HOME?

Since the law specifically authorizes the abatement for surviving spouses, the town would have to terminate the abatement if the spouse remarried because the spouse would no longer be a “surviving spouse.

Whether the town must terminate the abatement if the surviving spouse sells the home depends on the ordinance the town adopted authorizing the abatement. By law, the town must have adopted an ordinance authorizing the abatement before it could grant it. The ordinance should specify if the abatement applies to any home the surviving spouse owns and occupies as his or her principle residence or to the residence the spouse occupied when the firefighter died.

JR: eh