Town of Bethany, CT Property Tax Relief

Pursuant to the authority granted under Section 12-129n of the Connecticut General Statutes, as amend, the tax relief for elderly homeowners provided under said statute is hereby adopted as follows:

The qualifications for the property tax relief provided by this section shall be as follows:

(1)

An applicant or his/her spouse must have been a resident of the Town of Bethany for at least one year and:

(a)

Be 65 years of age or over, or whose spouse, living with him/her, is 65 years of age or over or the surviving spouse of a taxpayer who has qualified under this section at the time of his/her death with respect to real property in which such residents or their spouses are liable for taxes under Section 12-48; or

(b)

Be under age 65 and eligible in accordance with applicable federal regulations to receive permanent total disability benefits under Social Security, or has not been engaged in employment covered by Social Security and accordingly has not qualified for benefits thereunder, but has become qualified for permanent total disability benefits under any federal, state or local government retirement or disability plan, including the Railroad Retirement Act and any government-related teacher's retirement plan, in which requirements with respect to qualifications for such permanent total disability benefit are comparable to such requirements under Social Security; and

(c)

Shall have individually, if unmarried, or jointly, if married, or combined, if other related or unrelated persons reside on the applicant's real property or in the applicant's manufactured home, adjusted gross income, as shown on Internal Revenue Service Form 1040, Social Security benefits and all other income, hereinafter called "household qualifying income," during the calendar year preceding the filing of his/her application in accordance with the guidelines set forth below;

(d)

Not be delinquent in the payment of any taxes due the Town of Bethany.

[Added 5-15-2000 ATM]

(2)

Tax abatements shall be provided by the Town annually, to qualified applicants, on a graduated basis in accordance with the same qualifying income that is used for the State of Connecticut Elderly and Totally Disabled Tax Relief Program for the corresponding Grand List Year, as follows:

[Amended 6-25-2002 STM[1]]

	State Level	Tax Abatement
	1	$800
	2	$600
	3	$400
	4	$200
	5	$100

[1]

Editor's Note: This amendment provided that it take effect 8-12-2002.

(3)

The property tax abatements provided by this section shall be in addition to and not dependent upon those benefits available to qualified taxpayers under any General Statutes, Sections 12-129b to 12-129d, inclusive, 12-129h and 12-170aa, provided that the Town and state benefits in any one year not exceed 100% of the normal tax which would have been imposed on a qualified taxpayer in the absence of such state statute and this section.

(4)

If the State of Connecticut denies the eligibility of an applicant for the portion of tax relief granted under one of the state programs, the Assessor must deny the applicant the local share of tax relief, remove the applicant from the abatement records and the Tax Collector shall bill him/her for the full real estate tax due.

(5)

Any otherwise qualified applicant must own and reside on the property subject to tax abatement for at least 183 days per year for the property to qualify as the taxpayer's principal residence.

(6)

Upon the sale of the property, the new owner shall lose the local tax abatement and the Assessor and Collector shall prorate the increased tax liability from the date of sale and bill the new owner.

(7)

The Tax Collector and Assessor of the Town of Bethany shall prescribe, with regard to their respective duties under this section, such forms and procedures as may be necessary to implement this section. Such forms and procedures must include an affidavit of the applicant certifying to his/her compliance with all of the eligibility requirements of this section. The Assessor, in addition, shall satisfy himself or herself as to qualifying income of an applicant for benefits under this section by requesting and reviewing qualification, as he or she may deem pertinent. All such evidence, qualification applications, federal income tax returns and any additional evidence of qualifying income which the Assessor may require shall be kept confidential and not open to public inspection,

(8)

Applications for benefits under this section shall be filed with the Assessor between February 1 and May 15 when State of Connecticut applications are due.

(9)

Any applicant who received a benefit from this section and is later found to be ineligible after filing a false affidavit will be liable for all benefits received. The amount due shall be treated as taxes not paid from the date they would have been due and be subject to interest and penalties as prescribed by law.

This section shall be applicable to the Grand List of October 1, 1999, and all subsequent Grand Lists thereafter.