[Adopted 10-22-1985 by Ord. No. 25]
The Town of Tolland hereby enacts tax deferral for the elderly pursuant to Section 12-129 of the General Statutes of Connecticut for eligible residents of the Town of Tolland for the fiscal year commencing July 1, 1986, on the terms and conditions provided herein.
Any person who owns real property in the Town of Tolland or who is liable for the payment of taxes thereon under Section 12-48 of the Connecticut General Statutes and occupies that property as his or her principal residence shall be eligible for real property tax deferral set forth in § 136-11, provided that all of the following conditions are met:
A. 
Such person shall be 65 years of age or over or the spouse of such person shall be 60 years of age or over and the surviving spouse of a taxpayer who qualified in Tolland under this article at the time of his or her death. Said age 65 shall occur by the close of the preceding calendar year.
B. 
All applicants must declare all sources of income, with income received during the prior calendar year as part of the application process. (Total income includes earned and unearned income, including but not limited to all income derived from wages, Social Security, bank interest, interest from stocks and bonds, etc.) To be eligible, the total income for a household, including the incomes of all of the occupants, shall not exceed the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) low median income guidelines for Hartford County for two persons for the previous calendar year. The guideline for determining household income eligibility will be the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) median income guidelines for two persons. For fiscal year 2001, the income limit per household shall be $42,000 based on the 2001 HUD Hartford County schedule unless the 2002 schedule is released by HUD prior to the February 2, 2002, enrollment period. The income limits will be reviewed by the Tax Assessor and adjusted accordingly each year in accordance with federal guidelines.
[Amended 1-23-2007]
C. 
Such person has owned and occupied a residence located in the Town of Tolland for a period of one year per Section 12-129 and has paid real estate taxes on a residence to the Town of Tolland for a period of one year per Section 12-129 prior to his or her application for tax deferral.
The benefits under this article shall be limited to the residence of the taxpayer, the house, lot upon which such residence is located and any auxiliary buildings located upon said lot. Applications for benefits under this article shall:
A. 
Be made on forms provided by the Assessor of the Town of Tolland and shall be accompanied by a copy of the applicant's most recent federal tax returns and documentation of the income as defined in § 136-10B; and
B. 
State, in addition to the qualifying information set forth in the above sections, whether or not the applicant has previously applied or is currently applying for this or any other tax deferral for the elderly under state statute.
Any homeowner entitled to tax deferral benefits under this section shall make application as required to the Assessor for such tax deferral at any time from February 1 to and including May 15 of the year in which tax deferral is claimed.
Deferral benefit and other tax relief deferral for the elderly under any state or federal statute cannot exceed 75% of qualifying tax. Any qualified recipient of a tax deferral benefit shall be subject to the following:
A. 
All benefits shall be reimbursed to the Town upon the death of the recipient or conveyance of the real property subject to taxation in accordance with § 136-18 of this article.
B. 
All benefits shall be subject to an interest charge equal to 6% per annum. Such interest charge shall be included in the written agreement to be entered into by the Town and the recipient but shall not be included in any liens recorded in the land records of the Town to reflect such tax deferral benefit. Such interest shall be compounded annually and shall accrue from the date of deferral until the date of conveyance.
[Amended 1-23-2007]
C. 
Total deferments, including interest, for all years shall not exceed the assessed value of the real property.
D. 
The recipient shall enter into a written agreement with the Town providing for reimbursement. The principal amount of such tax deferral benefit, excluding interest, shall be recorded in the land records of the Town and shall constitute a lien on the property payable upon death or conveyance.
The property tax deferral provided for this article may, in any case where title to real property is recorded in the name of the taxpayer or his or her spouse and any other person or persons, be prorated to reflect the fractional share of such taxpayer or spouse, or, if such property is a multiple-family dwelling, such relief or deferral may be prorated to reflect the portion of such property occupied by the taxpayer.
The property tax deferral provided by this article shall be in addition to and not dependent upon those benefits available to elderly taxpayers under any state statutes, provided that the Town and state benefits in any one year may not exceed 75% of the normal tax which would have been imposed on a qualified taxpayer in the absence of such state statute and this article.
A. 
The Tax Collector and the Assessor of the Town of Tolland shall prescribe, with regard to their respective duties under this article, such forms and procedures as may be necessary to implement this article. The Assessor, in addition, shall satisfy himself or herself as to the qualifying income of an applicant for benefits under this article by requesting and reviewing such evidence of qualifying income as he or she may deem pertinent.
B. 
All applications, federal income tax returns filed therewith and any additional evidence of qualifying income which the Assessor may require shall be kept confidential and not open to public inspection.
Persons aggrieved by any act or determination of the Assessor or Tax Collector under this article may appeal to the Board of Tax Review.
If any person with respect to whom a claim for tax deferral in accordance with this article has been approved for any assessment year transfers, assigns, grants or otherwise conveys in such assessment year the interest in real property to which such claim for tax deferral is related, other than to such person's qualified spouse, the amount of such tax shall be the pro rata portion of the amount otherwise applicable to such assessment year, to be determined by a fraction, the numerator of which shall be the number of full months from the first day of July following the date of assessment to the date of such conveyance, and the denominator of which shall be 12. If such conveyance occurs in the month of July following the date of assessment, the grantor shall be disqualified for tax credit in such assessment year. The grantee shall be required, within a period not exceeding 10 days immediately following the date of such conveyance, to notify the Assessor thereof, whereupon the Assessor shall notify the Tax Collector of the conveyance, and, upon receipt of such notice from the Assessor, the Tax Collector shall, if such notice is received after the tax due date in the municipality, mail or hand a bill to the grantee, stating the additional amount of tax due, as determined by the Tax Collector. Such tax and any previous deferral benefits shall be due and payable and collectible as other property taxes and subject to the same liens and processes of collection, provided that such tax shall be due in an initial or single installment not sooner than 30 days after the date such bill is mailed or handed to the grantee and in equal amounts in any remaining regular installments as the same are due and payable.