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:
A. 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]
State Level
|
Tax Abatement
|
---|
1
|
$800
|
2
|
$600
|
3
|
$400
|
4
|
$200
|
5
|
$100
|
(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.
B. This section shall be applicable to the Grand List of October 1,
1999, and all subsequent Grand Lists thereafter.