Substitute House Bill No. 5662
Substitute House Bill No. 5662
PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-242
AN ACT CONCERNING VARIOUS CHANGES RELATING TO THE
ASSESSMENT AND VALUATION OF PROPERTY AND PROPERTY
TAXES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 12-117 of the general
statutes, as amended by section 5 of public act
97-280, is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) (1) The period prescribed by law for the
completion of the duties of any assessor, board of
assessors or board of assessment appeals may, for
due cause shown, be extended by the [Secretary of
the Office of Policy and Management] CHIEF
EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE TOWN for a period not
exceeding one month, and in the case of the board
of assessment appeals in any town in the
assessment year immediately following completion
of a revaluation of all real property in such town
and adjustment of the assessment list for such
assessment year accordingly, such period may be
extended by said [secretary] CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER for a period not exceeding two months. [,
provided such assessor or board shall submit to
said secretary, not less than ten days before the
expiration of the period prescribed by law, a
request in writing, approved by the chief
executive officer of the municipality, for such
extension, setting forth the reasons therefor.]
NOT LATER THAN TWO WEEKS AFTER GRANTING AN
EXTENSION AS PROVIDED UNDER SUBDIVISION (1) OR (2)
OF THIS SUBSECTION, THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
SHALL SEND WRITTEN NOTICE OF THE EXTENSION TO THE
SECRETARY OF THE OFFICE OF POLICY AND MANAGEMENT.
If an extension is granted to any assessor or
board of assessors, the date by which a taxpayer
shall be required to submit a written request for
appeal to the board of assessment appeals shall be
extended to March twentieth and said board shall
conduct hearings regarding such requests during
the month of April. The board shall send
notification to the taxpayer of the time and date
of an appeal hearing at least seven calendar days
preceding the hearing date, but no later than the
first day of April. If the board elects not to
hear an appeal in accordance with the provisions
of section 12-111 it shall notify the taxpayer of
such decision no later than the first day of
April. (2) In addition to the extensions provided
under subdivision (1) of this subsection, the
period prescribed by law for the completion of the
duties of any assessor, board of assessors or
board of assessment appeals in any town subject to
the provisions of section 7-344 which fails to
adopt its budget in the time prescribed shall be
extended by the [Secretary of the Office of Policy
and Management] CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER for a
period not exceeding three months, provided the
assessor or board notifies the [secretary in
writing, and such extension is approved by the
chief executive officer of the municipality] CHIEF
EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF THE NEED FOR SUCH EXTENSION.
The date by which a taxpayer shall be required to
submit a written request for appeal to the board
of assessment appeals shall be extended for a
three-month period and said board shall conduct
hearings regarding such requests during the month
following the end of the extended period for
requests for appeals under this subdivision. The
board shall send notification to the taxpayer of
the time and date of an appeal hearing at least
seven calendar days preceding the hearing date,
but no later than the first day of the month in
which the hearing is to be held. If the board
elects not to hear an appeal in accordance with
the provisions of section 12-111 it shall notify
the taxpayer of such decision. All provisions of
said section 12-111, other than the extension of
the filing and notification dates as [as] provided
in subdivisions (1) and (2) of this subsection,
shall be applicable to such appeals. If an
extension is granted to any board of assessment
appeals, the time period within which a taxpayer
may appeal from the decision of such board and the
time within which the assessor or board of
assessors shall transmit an abstract of the
assessment lists shall be extended for a like
period.
(b) If, in the opinion of the board of
assessment appeals and the chief executive
officer, the number of appeals pending before such
board is such as to preclude fair and equitable
consideration of such appeals within the time
restriction prescribed herein, the Secretary of
the Office of Policy and Management may, upon the
request in writing of the board of assessment
appeals approved by the chief executive officer,
setting forth such opinion, authorize the
assessors to assess all real estate according to
the list in effect immediately prior to the list
from which such appeals are taken, subject only to
transfers of ownership, additions for new
construction and reductions for demolitions. The
list from which such appeals are taken shall then
become the list for the assessment day next
ensuing, subject only to such adjustments as are
authorized by the board of assessment appeals,
unless the town has, in the intervening time
period, completed a revaluation of all real
property in accordance with section 12-62, AS
AMENDED BY THIS ACT.
(c) During any assessment year in which the
provisions of subsection (b) of this section
become applicable, the assessor or board of
assessors shall, within sixty days of the date on
which the Secretary of the Office of Policy and
Management grants his authorization, complete the
list as required by said subsection. Each owner
whose property valuation on such list has been
increased above the valuation of such property in
the last-preceding grand list shall be sent an
increase notice. The notice shall be prepared in
the manner prescribed in section 12-55, AS
AMENDED, and shall be sent not earlier than the
date on which said secretary grants his
authorization and not later than the tenth day
following the date on which the assessor completes
the list as required by this subsection. If such
increase notice is sent later than the time period
prescribed in this subsection, such increase shall
become effective on the next succeeding grand
list. Any owner may appeal said valuation to the
board of assessment appeals within thirty days of
the date the notice was sent.
Sec. 2. Section 12-87a of the general
statutes is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof:
Whenever any organization claiming exemption
from property tax under the provisions of
subdivision (7), (10), (11) or (16) of section
12-81 has not filed within the time prescribed, a
quadrennial statement concerning such claim for
exemption as required in said subdivisions, the
[Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management]
ASSESSOR OR BOARD OF ASSESSORS OF THE MUNICIPALITY
IN WHICH THE PROPERTY IS SITUATED, upon receipt of
proof of substantial compliance by such
organization with the requirements concerning
submission of such statement, may allow an
extension of time not exceeding sixty days within
which such statement may be filed, provided
whenever an extension of time is so allowed, such
organization shall pay a fee of thirty-five
dollars for late-filing to the municipality in
which the property with respect to which such
statement is submitted is situated.
Sec. 3. Section 12-62j of the general
statutes is repealed and the following is
substituted in lieu thereof:
Any two or more municipalities that implement
physical revaluations on or after October 1, 1996,
and have jointly entered into a contract for
services with a revaluation company certified in
accordance with section 12-2b may apply to the
Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management
for an interlocal revaluation agreement grant. The
amount of such grant shall be [fifty per cent of
the amount of the grant-in-aid provided under
subsection (c) of section 12-62f for which each
such municipality qualified] AS FOLLOWS: (1)
TWELVE THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS TO EACH
MUNICIPALITY WITH A POPULATION OF LESS THAN TWENTY
THOUSAND; (2) SEVENTEEN THOUSAND FIVE HUNDRED
DOLLARS TO EACH MUNICIPALITY WITH A POPULATION OF
AT LEAST TWENTY THOUSAND BUT LESS THAN FIFTY
THOUSAND; (3) TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS TO EACH
MUNICIPALITY WITH A POPULATION OF AT LEAST FIFTY
THOUSAND BUT LESS THAN ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND; AND
(4) THIRTY THOUSAND DOLLARS TO EACH MUNICIPALITY
WITH A POPULATION OF ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND OR MORE.
Any application for such grant shall be submitted
in writing on a form furnished by the secretary
and shall be accompanied by such supporting
documentation as the secretary may require. The
applicant shall receive written notification of
the approval or rejection of his application. The
secretary shall certify to the Comptroller the
amount due under the provisions of this section
upon approving such application. The Comptroller
shall draw his order on the Treasurer on or before
the fifteenth day following the date such
certification is made and the Treasurer shall pay
the amount thereof not later than fifteen days
following.
Sec. 4. Section 12-62 of the general
statutes, as amended by section 2 of public act
97-68 and section 1 of public act 97-254, is
amended by adding subsection (h) as follows:
(NEW) (h) (1) Nothing in this section shall
be construed as prohibiting a town from electing
to effect a revaluation of real estate earlier
than the year of next revaluation, as designated
in subsection (b) of this section.
(2) A town electing to effect its next
revaluation earlier than required pursuant to
subsection (b) of this section shall effect its
next subsequent revaluation for the assessment
date commencing four years following the effective
date of the revaluation so implemented.
Sec. 5. Notwithstanding the provisions of
subparagraph (c) of subdivision (59) of section
12-89 of the general statutes, any person
otherwise eligible for an exemption, relating to a
manufacturing facility in a distressed
municipality having a population of not less than
seventy thousand persons and not more than ninety
thousand persons, pursuant to subparagraph (a) of
said subdivision for taxes payable in July, 1997,
and January, 1998, except that such person failed
to make application within the time specified in
said subparagraph (c), may submit an application
for exemption within thirty days after the
effective date of this act. The application shall
be accompanied by the fee required by section
12-81k of the general statutes. Upon receipt of
the application and fee and verification of
payment of such taxes, the municipality may
reimburse such person in an amount equal to the
amount by which such taxes exceed the taxes
payable if the application had been filed in a
timely manner.
Sec. 6. (NEW) Any municipality may, by vote of
its legislative body or, in a municipality where
the legislative body is a town meeting, by vote of
the board of selectmen, abate up to one hundred
per cent of the property taxes due for any tax
year with respect to information technology
personal property.
Sec. 7. (NEW) Any municipality may, by vote of
its legislative body or, in a municipality where
the legislative body is a town meeting, by vote of
the board of selectmen, abate up to one hundred
per cent of the property taxes due for any tax
year with respect to real or personal property of
any communications establishment included in major
group 48, in the Standard Industrial
Classification Manual, United States Office of
Management and Budget, 1987 edition.
Sec. 8. (a) The legislative body of the town
of Branford may, with respect to any personal
property damaged as a direct result of the fire
occurring in said town on January 28, 1998, abate
all or a portion of the property taxes or any
instalment thereof levied on the assessment list
for 1997 in respect to such property, provided
such abatement may not exceed that portion of such
total tax or instalment determined as the same
proportionate part of such total tax or instalment
as the damaged portion of such property bears to
the entire property subject to such tax.
(b) Any person claiming to be aggrieved by
the doings of the assessor of the town of Branford
in relation to the determination of the value of
personal property for purposes of subsection (a)
of this section may appeal to the board of
assessment appeals in accordance with the
provisions of sections 12-110 and 12-111 of the
general statutes, provided such appeal shall be
extended in time to the next succeeding Board of
Assessment Appeals if the statutory period for the
meeting of such board has passed.
Sec. 9. This act shall take effect from its
passage, except that sections 3 and 4 shall take
effect July 1, 1998, and sections 6 and 7 shall be
applicable to assessment years of municipalities
commencing on or after October 1, 1998.
Approved June 8, 1998