The City of Norwalk hereby enacts, for the assessment year commencing
October 1, 2001, and each assessment year thereafter, a tax deferral
program for elderly and disabled homeowners pursuant to Section 12-129n
of the Connecticut General Statutes for eligible residents of the
City of Norwalk, on the terms and conditions provided herein. This
article is enacted for the purpose of assisting elderly and disabled
homeowners with a portion of the costs of property taxation.
Any resident of the City of Norwalk who qualifies under the
following requirements is eligible for property tax deferral with
respect to real property owned and occupied by such person as his
or her legal domicile and principal, permanent residence:
A. Such resident at the close of the preceding calendar year has attained
age 65 or over, or his or her spouse, who is living with such resident,
is 65 years of age or over; or such resident is 60 years of age or
over at the close of the preceding calendar year and is the surviving
spouse of a taxpayer who was qualified in the City of Norwalk under
this program at the time of his or her death, with respect to real
property on which any such resident or spouse is liable for taxes
under the provisions of Section 12-48 of the Connecticut General Statutes;
or
B. Such resident is 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 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
teachers' retirement plan, in which requirements with respect to qualifications
for such permanent total disability benefits are comparable to the
requirements under social security; and
C. Such resident shall have been a taxpayer of the City of Norwalk and
have paid taxes for a period of at least the 12 months immediately
preceding his or her application for tax deferral under this article;
D. No tax deferral shall be given under this article to any person who
owes delinquent property taxes, sewer fees or assessments or other
delinquent charges to the City of Norwalk;
E. The property for which the tax deferral is claimed is the tax lot
which is the legal domicile and principal, permanent residence of
such person, together with all improvements thereon, and is occupied
for more than 200 days of each year by such person;
F. Such resident shall have individually, if unmarried, or jointly,
if married, qualifying income in an amount not to exceed $40,000 for
the calendar year 2002 and $45,000 for the calendar year 2003 and
thereafter equal to local maximum qualifying income. "Qualifying income"
is defined as adjusted gross income, as defined in the Internal Revenue
Code of 1986, as may be amended from time to time, plus the nontaxable
portion of any social security benefits, railroad retirement benefits,
income from other tax exempt retirement and annuity sources and income
from tax exempt bonds, less an amount equal to the medical and dental
expense deduction allowed or allowable under Section 213(a) of the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as may be amended from time to time
(currently allowed deduction for medical and dental expenses only
if in excess of 7.5% of adjusted gross income);
[Amended 1-28-2008; 4-12-2016]
G. Such resident, if eligible, shall have applied for, and
have received, state-reimbursed property tax relief under the homeowners'
program as outlined in Connecticut General Statute Section 12-170aa,
or the program formerly known as the freeze program, as outlined in
Connecticut General Statute Section 12-129b, for the same grand list
year as the claimed deferral;
H. The market value of the real property for which the tax deferral
is claimed shall not exceed $915,000, as determined by the most current
property records on file in the office of the Tax Assessor; and
[Amended 4-12-2016]
I. Such resident may not receive both a locally funded tax credit, pursuant to §
103-5 of the Code of the City of Norwalk; and tax deferral hereunder simultaneously for the same grand list year. Applicants may receive either the local tax credit program, or for the tax deferral program, in any grand list year. A resident may receive the local credit for some grand list years, and the tax deferral for other grand list years.
The total tax deferral granted under the provisions of this program, together with the total tax relief granted under the provisions of §§
103-5 through
103-12 of the Norwalk Code, shall not exceed an amount equal to 0.5% of the total property tax levy assessed in Norwalk in the preceding fiscal year.
The tax deferral granted to any eligible resident under this
program shall not disqualify such eligible resident, or his or her
surviving spouse, with respect to any tax relief for which such person
is eligible under state tax relief programs. Any tax deferral provided
shall be in addition to such state tax relief.
The Director of Finance shall make every effort to include in
his or her annual budget an amount from the Undesignated Fund Balance
to offset the estimated amount of taxes to be deferred under this
program.