[Adopted STM 9-28-1991 by Ord. No. 46]
The Town of Barkhamsted hereby enacts a tax credit for elderly or totally disabled homeowners pursuant to C.G.S. § 12-129n, as it may be amended from time to time, for eligible residents of the Town of Barkhamsted, on the terms and conditions provided herein. This article is enacted for the purpose of assisting elderly or totally disabled homeowners with a portion of the costs of property taxation.
Any person who owns real property in the Town of Barkhamsted or who is liable for the payment of taxes thereon under C.G.S. § 12-48 and occupies that property as his or her principal residence shall be eligible for real property tax relief as set forth in § 178-11 below, provided that all of the following conditions are met:
A. 
Such person is 65 years of age or over at the close of the preceding calendar year or such person's spouse residing with said person is 65 years of age or over at the close of the preceding calendar year or is 60 years of age or over and the surviving spouse of a taxpayer qualified in Barkhamsted under this article at the time of his or her death or is totally disabled as defined in C.G.S. § 12-81(55).
B. 
Such person has been a resident of the Town of Barkhamsted for a period of five years immediately preceding the application for relief, and occupies such property as his or her principal residence. "Principal residence" shall be defined as that real property occupied as his or her residence by said person for more than 183 days of each calendar year.
C. 
Such person has applied for and is eligible for the elderly or totally disabled tax relief program available from the State of Connecticut pursuant to C.G.S. § 12-170aa, as it may be amended from time to time.
Applications for benefits under this article shall:
A. 
Be made on forms provided by the Assessor of the Town of Barkhamsted and shall be accompanied by a copy of the applicant's most recent federal tax returns or other documentation of all income.
B. 
Be filed with the Assessor at any time between February 1 and May 15 to qualify for tax relief for the taxes due the following July and January. Any claim for tax reduction under this section shall be submitted for approval in the first year claim for such tax relief is filed and biennially thereafter.
[Amended ATM 5-5-2009]
A. 
The Assessor shall determine whether each applying taxpayer is entitled to tax credit under this article and shall compute the amount of tax credit to which each qualified taxpayer is entitled and advise the Tax Collector in what amount to reduce the amount of tax levied against the taxpayer.
B. 
The amount of credit available to a qualified taxpayer who also qualifies for tax credits from the State of Connecticut shall be equal to the percent of credit granted by the state applied to the remainder of the bill.
C. 
If, during a tax year, a qualifying taxpayer dies leaving a spouse who would also qualify under this article, the surviving spouse shall be entitled to receive the remaining benefits for that tax year.
A. 
The Town Assessor is hereby authorized to implement this program and to adopt such rules and regulations as may be necessary for the proper administration of this program, with the consent and approval of the Board of Selectmen. He or she may designate agents to act in his or her name in collecting applications for this program.
B. 
The Town of Barkhamsted hereby waives any lien rights given to it by C.G.S. § 12-129n.
C. 
Persons aggrieved by any act or determination of the Assessor under this article may appeal to the Board of Tax Review.
D. 
The Board of Selectmen, with the approval of the Board of Finance, is hereby authorized to adopt regulations modifying this article so as to conform to changes in state law as it affects this article, without returning to the legislative body, provided that the Board may not reduce or eliminate benefits as herein provided, and provided further that the Board shall publish such changes in the same manner as prescribed by law for the publication of ordinances, and those changes shall become effective 30 days after such publication.