State Legislation Impacting

Municipal Assessment and Taxation

State of Connecticut

Office of Policy and Management

Intergovernmental Policy Division

August 2006

The Office of Policy and Management (OPM) publishes an annual summary of public acts affecting the local assessment and taxation of property. The 2006 edition of State Legislation Impacting Municipal Assessment and Taxation is available on the agency’s website (www.opm.state.ct.us) under Publications/Reports (Property Tax Assessment and Taxation – Laws Affecting).

The August 2006 edition of this publication is a companion piece to Property Tax Statutes, a compendium of laws that is also available on OPM’s website.

This publication contains summaries of pertinent legislation that the Connecticut General Assembly enacted during the February 2006 Regular Session. For revisions to certain sections of the Connecticut General Statutes (CGS), text in boldfaced type describes the content of each subsection and subdivision. Additionally, where appropriate, the summaries include information regarding the legislative intent of these public acts.

Reading these summaries is not a substitute for a complete review of the applicable public acts. The Secretary of the State provides each town or city clerk with a copy of the 2006 public acts that these summaries describe. They are also available at the State Library and on the General Assembly’s website at www.cga.ct.gov. To access a public act summarized in this publication, enter the public act or bill number in the “Quick Search By” on the General Assembly’s website.

Please be advised that OPM staff members do not issue legal opinions about the legislation summarized in this publication, as a municipality’s legal counsel is the source for such opinions.

W. David LeVasseur, Undersecretary

Intergovernmental Policy Division

February 2006 Regular Session
Public Acts
Public Act / 06-83 / New 100% exemption available October 1, 2011 for new and newly-acquired manufacturing and biotechnology machinery and equipment / Pg. 1
End date for property tax exemption under CGS §12-81(72) / Pg. 1
Exemption for certain machinery and equipment used in connection with recycling of solid waste / Pg. 1
Personal Property Declaration - Supplemental Form / Pg. 2
Depreciation of older manufacturing and biotechnology machinery and equipment eligible for property tax exemption / Pg. 2
Municipal reimbursement for tax loss due to CGS §12-81(72) cannot be prorated as of October 1, 2006 Grand List / Pg. 2
New property tax exemption for older manufacturing and biotechnology machinery and equipment / Pg. 3
Reimbursement for property tax exemption for older manufacturing and biotechnology machinery and equipment / Pg. 3
2006 Revision to Administrative Abstract Coding System – new personal property and exemption codes / Pg. 4
Annual state grant-in-lieu of taxes for exempt machinery and equipment frozen as of October 1, 2011 Grand List / Pg. 4
Public Act / 06-88 / Tax collector certification and recertification / Pg. 4
Public Act / 06-101 / Enterprise Zone reporting and evaluation requirements / Pg. 5
Public Act / 06-128 / Local option to abate property tax for municipal acquisition of certain rights to open space land / Pg. 5
New Haven - floating and overlay zones and flexible zoning districts / Pg. 6
Public Act / 06-148 / Revaluation – general provisions / Pg. 6
Definitions / Pg. 6
Periodic revaluation requirement / Pg. 6
Mass appraisal methods and field review requirement / Pg. 7
Property inspection requirement / Pg. 7
Optional use of questionnaires / Pg. 7
Public inspection of revaluation information / Pg. 8
Penalty for failure to implement a required revaluation; penalty waiver / Pg. 8
Certified revaluation company’s performance of duties / Pg. 9
Valuation notices / Pg. 9
Penalty for non-compliance with regulatory certification; penalty waiver / Pg. 9
Exemption from revaluation requirement for certain lands / Pg. 10
Board of assessment appeals’ extensions / Pg. 10
One-year postponement of a revaluation / Pg. 10
Revised grand list, notice and appeal procedures / Pg. 11
State reports and lesser taxing districts’ grand lists to reflect town’s adoption of phase-in / Pg. 11
Technical amendments to CGS §7-328(a), CGS §12-19a and CGS §12-20a / Pg. 11
Creation of work group to study revaluation related issues / Pg. 11
Technical amendment to §12-129 / Pg. 12
Repeal of CGS §12-62a(e) and (f), CGS §12-62h, CGS §12-62i and CGS §12-62k / Pg. 12
Effect of 2006 legislation concerning phase-in / Pg. 12
Phase-in provisions, authority and term / Pg. 13
Discontinuing a phase-in / Pg. 13
Phase-in methods / Pg. 13
New construction completed during phase-in term / Pg. 14
Penalty for phase-in notice non-compliance / Pg. 14
Establishing a factor of not less than 25% / Pg. 14
Factor use options and applicability to phase-in methods / Pg. 14
Public Act / 06-153 / Exclusion of veterans’ disability payments for certain income-based property tax exemption programs / Pg. 15
National Guard members’ eligibility for veterans’ exemptions / Pg. 16
New annual municipal report concerning benefits to veterans / Pg. 17
Public Act / 06-163 / Land record filing fee exemption / Pg. 17
Redding - enlargement of special taxing district / Pg. 18
Wallingford company - extension to appeal OPM determination / Pg. 18
Public Act / 06-176 / New local option tax relief program for certain elderly homeowners / Pg. 18
Public Act / 06-183 / Telecommunications companies taxed under CGS §12-80a subject to interest for delinquent tax payment to towns / Pg. 19
Hartford – Residential and apartment property assessment and reduction of property tax surcharge / Pg. 20
Repeal of CGS §12-62d / Pg. 20
Public Act / 06-185 / Special assessment to recover municipal costs related to violations of health, sanitary and safety laws / Pg. 21
Real estate lien for special assessment unpaid for 60 days / Pg. 21
Decrease in daily maximum fine for health and safety violations affecting tenements and boarding houses / Pg. 21
Notice to correct violations or to recover municipal costs / Pg. 21
Recovery of municipal costs for certain expenses / Pg. 21
Adding special assessment to real estate property tax bill in lieu of filing lien to recover municipal costs for certain expenses / Pg. 21
Increased penalty for certain municipal violations / Pg. 22
Exceptions to administering certain municipal violations as infractions / Pg. 22
Public Act / 06-187 / Voluntown - additional Payment-In-Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) / Pg. 22
New London - increase in additional PILOT / Pg. 22
Public Act / 06-189 / 2005 Grand List filing extension for certain tax exempt organizations / Pg. 22
Extension to file application for exemptions under CGS §12-81(59), (60) and (72) in certain towns for specified grand lists / Pg. 23
Bloomfield company - extension to appeal OPM determination / Pg. 23
Westport Board of Assessment Appeals - validation / Pg. 23

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February 2006 Regular Session

Public Act 06-83
(Bill No. 702) / AN ACT CONCERNING JOBS FOR THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY
Section 9 of Public Act 06-83 amends CGS §12-81 by adding a new subdivision (76)
Section 9 of Public Act 06-83 provides that new or newly-acquired manufacturing machinery and equipment or new or newly-acquired machinery and equipment used in connection with biotechnology is totally exempt from property taxation for assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 2011.
The definition of “machinery” and “equipment” for purposes of this 100% exemption is the same as the definition of those terms contained in CGS §12-81(72). As a result, machinery and equipment must be five-year or seven-year property for federal tax purposes, installed in a facility and predominantly used for manufacturing or biotechnology in order to qualify for the 100% exemption under CGS §12-81(76).
A person cannot claim the exemption under CGS §12-81(60) or (70) and the exemption under CGS §12-81(76) for the same machinery and equipment. The provisions of CGS §12-81(60) and (70) govern property tax exemptions that are available for certain machinery and equipment located in a Distressed Municipality, Enterprise Zone or Enterprise Corridor Zone.
Effective: / July 1, 2006
Section 84 of Public Act 06-186 amends subparagraph (A) of subdivision (72) CGS §12-81, as amended by Section 10 of Public Act 06-83
The amendment to CGS §12-81(72) in Section 10 of Public Act 06-83 provides for a continuation of the current five-year property tax exemption for certain new and newly-acquired manufacturing machinery and equipment, for the assessment years commencing October 1, 2006, October 1, 2007, October 1, 2008, October 1, 2009 and October 1, 2010.
The exemption under CGS §12-81(72) is not available for years commencing on or after October 1, 2011. Instead, the exemption under CGS §12-81(76) that Section 9 of Public Act 06-83 creates, is applicable as of October 1, 2011 for new or newly-acquired machinery and equipment used in manufacturing or biotechnology.
Section 84 of Public Act 06-186 amended the provisions of CGS §12-81(72), as amended by Section 10 of Public Act 06-83. Pursuant to this amendment, certain machinery and equipment acquired on and after July 1, 2006 and used in connection with recycling is eligible for exemption under CGS §12-81(72) as of October 1, 2006.
"Recycling" means the processing of solid waste to reclaim material, as defined in §22a-260. Pursuant to subdivision (7) of CGS §22a-260, solid waste "...means unwanted or discarded solid, liquid, semisolid or contained gaseous material, including but not limited to, demolition debris, material burned or otherwise processed at a resources recovery facility or incinerator, material processed at a recycling facility and sludges or other residue from a water pollution abatement facility, water supply treatment plant or air pollution control facility."
Pursuant to this definition, machinery or equipment that a Material Resource Recovery Facility or a Volume Reduction Plant uses in connection with recycling solid waste is eligible for the exemption under CGS §12-81(72) as of October 1, 2006, provided the machinery and equipment that the facility or plant uses is acquired on or after July 1, 2006.
The Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) issues permits for the operation of Material Resource Recovery Facilities (currently located in Berlin, Danbury, Groton, Hartford, Stratford and Willimantic) and for Volume Reduction Plants (currently located in Ansonia, Berlin, Branford, Bridgeport, Danbury, Deep River, East Windsor, Hartford, Middletown, Milford, New Haven, Norwalk, Old Saybrook, Plainville, Portland, Shelton, South Windsor, Stamford, Sterling, Stratford, Suffield, Waterbury, Waterford, Willimantic and Winchester).
Effective: / July 1, 2006 and applicable to income years commencing on or after January 1, 2006
Note – Subparagraph (C) of CGS §12-81(72) specifically excludes "any provider, directly or indirectly, of electricity, oil, water or gas" from exemption eligibility. As a result of this provision, machinery and equipment are not eligible for exemption if located in facilities that incinerate solid waste materials and produce energy from the combustion process.
This provision excludes from exemption eligibility machinery and equipment in the tire-to-energy facility located in Sterling and in a Resource Recovery Facility (sometimes referred to as a trash-to-energy facility). Resource Recovery Facilities are located in Hartford, Bridgeport, Wallingford, Bristol, Preston and Lisbon.
Even if one of these facilities uses machinery or equipment to separate materials from the residue produced by burning solid waste and subsequently sends such materials to a recycling market, that machinery and equipment is not eligible for exemption because the facility is a direct or indirect energy producer.
Section 287 of Public Act 06-196 amends CGS §12-63, as amended by Section 11 of Public Act 06-83
The provisions of CGS §12-63, as amended, require assessors to provide each manufacturing facility owner and each owner of a facility engaged in biotechnology located in their towns with a supplement to the annual Personal Property Declaration (i.e., a Supplemental Form) for the assessment years commencing October 1, 2006, October 1, 2007, October 1, 2008, October 1, 2009, October 1, 2010 and October 1, 2011. This legislation requires owners of machinery and equipment used in manufacturing and biotechnology to submit a Supplemental Form with the Personal Property Declaration that they file for these assessment years. Assessors will use the information on the Supplemental Form that a taxpayer files to identify the machinery and equipment eligible for the new property tax relief program that Section 13 of Public Act 06-83 creates.
Assessors must determine the depreciated value of machinery and equipment for purposes of this new property tax relief program in accordance with the same method they used previously. The amendment to CGS §12-63 prohibits an assessor from altering depreciation schedule(s) applicable to machinery and equipment that qualifies for this new tax relief program in a way that would result in an assessment increase over the prior year’s assessment for the same or similar property.
Effective: / July 1, 2006
Section 12 of Public Act 06-83 amends CGS §12-94b
In addition to making various technical changes to CGS §12-94b, the amendment removes the provision that allows OPM to prorate the amount of municipal reimbursement for machinery and equipment exempt under CGS §12-81(72) in the event the appropriation is not sufficient. By virtue of this change, municipalities are guaranteed to receive 80% of their tax losses due to exemptions provided under CGS §12-81(72) for the assessment years commencing October 1, 2006, October 1, 2007, October 1, 2008, October 1, 2009 and October 1, 2010.
Effective: / July 1, 2006
Section 13 of Public Act 06-83, as amended by Section 85 of Public Act 06-186 - NEW
This legislation establishes a new property tax relief program, which eventually eliminates the tax that property owners pay for certain machinery and equipment used in manufacturing and biotechnology. A property tax exemption, the percentage of which changes each year for the next five assessment years, is applicable to eligible machinery and equipment.
The definition of “machinery” and “equipment” for purposes of this new property tax exemption, is the same as the definition of those terms in CGS §12-81(72). As a result, machinery and equipment must be five-year or seven-year property for federal tax purposes, installed in a facility and predominantly used for manufacturing or biotechnology in order to qualify for this new exemption.
For the October 1, 2006 Grand List, machinery and equipment acquired in an assessment year commencing on or before October 1, 2000 that satisfy these criteria are eligible for this exemption. Essentially, all eligible machinery and equipment acquired in an assessment year ending on or before October 1, 2001 may receive an October 1, 2006 Grand List exemption pursuant to Section 13 of Public Act 06-83.