Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

General Assembly                      Committee Bill No. 787
      January Session, 2021                LCO No. 4583
     Referred to Committee on VETERANS' AFFAIRS
     Introduced by:
       (VA)
 AN ACT EXEMPTING CERTAIN DISABLED VETERANS FROM
 PROPERTY TAX.
 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
 Assembly convened:
       Section 1. Section 12-81 of the general statutes is amended by adding
    subdivision (80) as follows (Effective October 1, 2021, and applicable to
    assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2021):
       (NEW) (80) (A) The dwelling house, and the lot whereupon the same
   is erected, owned by or held in trust for any person who is a citizen and
   resident of this state, occupied as such person's domicile, shall be
   exempt from local property taxation if such person (i) has served in the
   Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard or Air Force of the United
   States, and (ii) has a disability rating by the United States Department
   of Veterans Affairs amounting to one hundred per cent of total
   disability.
      (B) No individual shall receive any exemption to which he or she is
   entitled under this subdivision until he or she has complied with section
   12-95 and has submitted proof of his or her disability rating, as
   determined by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs, to the
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 assessor of the town in which the exemption is sought. If there is no
 change to an individual's disability rating, such proof shall not be
 required for any assessment year following that for which the
 exemption under this subdivision is granted initially.
    Sec. 2. Subdivision (20) of section 12-81 of the general statutes is
 repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October
 1, 2021, and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after October 1,
 2021):
    (20) Subject to the provisions hereinafter stated, property not
 exceeding three thousand five hundred dollars in amount shall be
 exempt from taxation, which property belongs to, or is held in trust for,
 any resident of this state who has served, or is serving, in the Army,
 Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard or Air Force of the United States and
 (1) has a disability rating by the United States Department of Veterans
 Affairs amounting to ten per cent or more of total disability, provided
 such exemption shall be two thousand dollars in any case in which such
 rating is between ten per cent and twenty-five per cent; two thousand
 five hundred dollars in any case in which such rating [is] amounts to
 more than twenty-five per cent but not more than fifty per cent; three
 thousand dollars in any case in which such rating [is] amounts to more
 than fifty per cent but not more than seventy-five per cent; and three
 thousand five hundred dollars in any case in which such person has
 attained sixty-five years of age or such rating [is] amounts to more than
 seventy-five per cent but less than one hundred per cent; or (2) is
 receiving a pension, annuity or compensation from the United States
 because of the loss in service of a leg or arm or that which is considered
 by the rules of the United States Pension Office or the Bureau of War
 Risk Insurance the equivalent of such loss. If such veteran lacks such
 amount of property in his or her name, so much of the property
 belonging to, or held in trust for, his or her spouse, who is domiciled
 with him or her, as is necessary to equal such amount shall also be so
 exempt. When any veteran entitled to an exemption under the
 provisions of this section has died, property belonging to, or held in
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 trust for, his or her surviving spouse, while such spouse remains a
 widow or widower, or belonging to or held in trust for his or her minor
 children during their minority, or both, while they are residents of this
 state, shall be exempt in the same aggregate amount as that to which the
 disabled veteran was or would have been entitled at the time of his or
 her death. No individual entitled to exemption under this subdivision
 and under one or more of subdivisions (19), (22), (23), (25) and (26) of
 this section shall receive more than one exemption. No individual shall
 receive any exemption to which he or she is entitled under this
 subdivision until he or she has complied with section 12-95 and has
 submitted proof of his or her disability rating, as determined by the
 United States Department of Veterans Affairs, to the assessor of the
 town in which the exemption is sought. If there is no change to an
 individual's disability rating, such proof shall not be required for any
 assessment year following that for which the exemption under this
 subdivision is granted initially. If the United States Department of
 Veterans Affairs modifies a veteran's disability rating, such
 modification shall be deemed a waiver of the right to such exemption
 until proof of disability rating is submitted to the assessor and the right
 to such exemption is established as required initially. Any person who
 has been unable to submit evidence of disability rating in the manner
 required by this subdivision, or who has failed to submit such evidence
 as provided in section 12-95, may, when he or she obtains such evidence,
 make application to the collector of taxes within one year after he or she
 obtains such proof or within one year after the expiration of the time
 limited in section 12-95, as the case may be, for abatement in case the tax
 has not been paid, or for refund in case the whole tax has been paid, of
 such part or the whole of such tax as represents the service exemption.
 Such abatement or refund may be granted retroactively to include the
 assessment day next succeeding the date as of which such person was
 entitled to such disability rating as determined by the United States
 Department of Veterans Affairs, but in no case shall any abatement or
 refund be made for a period greater than three years. The collector shall,
 after examination of such application, refer the same, with his
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 recommendations thereon, to the board of selectmen of a town or to the
 corresponding authority of any other municipality, and shall certify to
 the amount of abatement or refund to which the applicant is entitled.
 Upon receipt of such application and certification, the selectmen or
 other duly constituted authority shall, in case the tax has not been paid,
 issue a certificate of abatement or, in case the whole tax has been paid,
 draw an order upon the treasurer in favor of such applicant for the
 amount without interest which represents the service exemption. Any
 action so taken by such selectmen or other authority shall be a matter of
 record and the tax collector shall be notified in writing of such action;
    Sec. 3. Section 12-81g of the general statutes is repealed and the
 following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2021, and
 applicable to assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2021):
    (a) Effective for the assessment year commencing October 1, 1985,
 and each assessment year thereafter, any person entitled to an
 exemption from property tax in accordance with subdivision (19), (20),
 (21), (22), (23), (24), (25) or (26) of section 12-81, reflecting any increase
 made pursuant to the provisions of section 12-62g, shall be entitled to
 an additional exemption from such tax in an amount equal to twice the
 amount of the exemption provided for such person pursuant to any
 such subdivision, provided such person's qualifying income does not
 exceed the applicable maximum amount as provided under section
 12-81l, except that if such person has a disability rating [of] amounting
 to one hundred per cent as determined by the United States Department
 of Veterans Affairs, [the total of such adjusted gross income,
 individually, if unmarried, or jointly, if married, in the calendar year
 ending immediately preceding the assessment date with respect to
 which such additional exemption is allowed, is not more than
 twenty-one thousand dollars if such person is married or not more than
 eighteen thousand dollars if such person is not married] such person
 shall be exempt from property taxation under subdivision (80) of section
 12-81, as amended by this act.
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     [(b) (1) Effective for the assessment year commencing October 1, 2013,
 and each assessment year thereafter, any municipality may, upon
 approval by its legislative body or, in any town in which the legislative
 body is a town meeting, by the board of selectmen, provide that, in lieu
 of the additional exemption prescribed under subsection (a) of this
 section, any person entitled to an exemption from property tax in
 accordance with subdivision (20) of section 12-81, reflecting any increase
 made pursuant to the provisions of section 12-62g, who has a disability
 rating of one hundred per cent, as determined by the United States
 Department of Veterans Affairs, shall be entitled to an additional
 exemption from such tax in an amount equal to three times the amount
 of the exemption provided for such person pursuant to subdivision (20)
 of section 12-81, provided such person's total adjusted gross income as
 determined for purposes of the federal income tax, plus any other
 income not included in such adjusted income, excluding veterans'
 disability payments, individually if unmarried, or jointly with spouse if
 married, during the calendar year ending immediately preceding the
 filing of a claim for any such exemption, is not more than twenty-four
 thousand dollars if such person is married or not more than twenty-one
 thousand dollars if such person is not married.
    (2) The provisions of this subsection shall not limit the applicability
 of the provisions of subsection (a) of this section for persons not eligible
 for the property tax exemption provided by this subsection.]
    [(c)] (b) Any claimant who, for purposes of obtaining an exemption
 under this section, wilfully fails to disclose all matters related thereto or
 with intent to defraud makes any false statement shall forfeit the right
 to claim such additional veteran's exemption.
    [(d)] (c) Effective for the assessment year commencing October 1,
 1986, and each assessment year thereafter, any person entitled to an
 exemption from property tax in accordance with subdivision (19), (20),
 (21), (22), (23), (24), (25) or (26) of section 12-81, reflecting any increase
 made pursuant to the provisions of section 12-62g, and who is not
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 receiving or is not eligible to receive the additional exemption under
 subsection (a) [or (b)] of this section, shall be entitled to an additional
 exemption from such tax in an amount equal to one-half of the amount
 of the exemption provided for such person pursuant to any such
 subdivision.
    [(e)] (d) The state shall reimburse each town, city, borough,
 consolidated town and city and consolidated town and borough by the
 last day of each calendar year in which exemptions were granted to the
 extent of the revenue loss represented by the additional exemptions
 provided for in [subsections (a) and (b)] subsection (a) of this section.
 The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall review each
 claim for such revenue loss as provided in section 12-120b. Any claimant
 aggrieved by the results of the secretary's review shall have the rights of
 appeal as set forth in section 12-120b. In the fiscal year commencing July
 1, 2003, and in each fiscal year thereafter, the amount payable to each
 municipality in accordance with this section shall be reduced
 proportionately in the event that the total amount payable to all
 municipalities exceeds the amount appropriated.
    [(f)] (e) Any person who has submitted application and been
 approved in any year for the additional exemption under subsection (a)
 [or (b)] of this section shall, in the year immediately following approval,
 be presumed to be qualified for such exemption. If, in the year
 immediately following approval, such person has qualifying income in
 excess of the maximum allowed under subsection (a) [or (b)] of this
 section, such person shall notify the tax assessor in the town allowing
 the additional exemption on or before the next filing date for such
 exemption and shall be denied such exemption for the assessment year
 immediately following and for any subsequent year until such person
 has reapplied and again qualified for such exemption. Any person who
 fails to notify the tax assessor of such disqualification shall make
 payment to the town in the amount of property tax loss related to the
 exemption improperly taken. Not more than thirty days after
 discovering such person's ineligibility for the exemption, the assessor
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 shall send written notification of such person's identity to the Secretary
 of the Office of Policy and Management. If any payment was remitted
 under subsection [(e)] (d) of this section with respect to a period for
 which such person was not eligible for the exemption, the amount of the
 next payment made to the town shall be reduced by the amount of
 payment made erroneously.
    [(g)] (f) The Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall
 adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54,
 establishing: (1) A procedure under which a municipality shall
 determine eligibility for any additional exemptions under subsections
 (a) [, (b) and (d)] and (c) of this section, provided such procedure shall
 include a provision that when an applicant has filed for either of such
 exemptions and received approval for the first time, such applicant shall
 be required to file for such exemption biennially thereafter, subject to
 the provisions of subsection [(f)] (e) of this section; (2) the manner in
 which a municipality shall apply for reimbursement from the state for
 the revenue loss represented by the additional exemptions provided for
 in [subsections (a) and (b)] subsection (a) of this section, which shall
 provide a penalty for late filing of such application for reimbursement
 of two hundred fifty dollars, but shall also provide that the secretary
 may waive such forfeiture in accordance with procedures and standards
 contained in such regulations; and (3) the manner in which the Office of
 Policy and Management may audit and make adjustments to
 applications for reimbursement from municipalities for a period of not
 more than one year next succeeding the deadline for such application.
       This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
       sections:
       Section 1     October 1, 2021, and        12-81
                     applicable to assessment
                     years commencing on or
                     after October 1, 2021
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 Sec. 2              October 1, 2021, and                    12-81(20)
                     applicable to assessment
                     years commencing on or
                     after October 1, 2021
 Sec. 3              October 1, 2021, and                    12-81g
                     applicable to assessment
                     years commencing on or
                     after October 1, 2021
Statement of Purpose:
To exempt any veteran with a disability rating from the United States
Department of Veterans Affairs amounting to one hundred per cent
from property tax on such veteran's dwelling house and lot used as his
or her domicile.
[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.]
 Co-Sponsors:             SEN. KELLY, 21st Dist.
S.B. 787
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Statutes affected: 
Committee Bill: 12-81, 12-81g