[Adopted 4-26-2004 by
the Special Town Meeting, effective 5-4-2004
The Town of Somers hereby enacts tax relief for elderly and
disabled homeowners of the Town of Somers pursuant to Section 12-129n
of the Connecticut General Statutes. This article is enacted for the
purpose of assisting elderly and disabled homeowners with a portion
of the costs of real property taxation on the terms and conditions
provided herein.
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Local Tax
Relief Program."
A.
All residents, who have been taxpayers in Somers for one year immediately
preceding their receipt of tax benefits under this article and meet
the other requirements in this article, may apply for the Somers Local
Tax Relief Program on real property owned and occupied as their principal
residence. Principal residence shall include the house and the house
lot on which it is situated, but shall not include excess acreage
as determined by the Assessor. Unit owners of a cooperative, condominium
or other common interest ownership unit will also qualify if they
meet the other requirements of this program.
B.
All applicants must be 65 years of age, by December 31 of the preceding
year, or reside with spouses who are 65 years of age or older by December
31 of the preceding year, or be eligible in accordance with applicable
federal regulations to receive permanent total disability benefits
under Social Security, or have not been engaged in employment covered
by Social Security and accordingly have not qualified for benefits
thereunder, but have 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 such qualifications for such permanent total disability
benefits are comparable to such requirements under Social Security
as of December 31 of the year preceding application with the Town
of Somers.
C.
All applicants must declare all sources of income, with income received
during the prior calendar year as well as all assets as part of the
application process. Total income shall include earned and unearned
income, including, but not limited to, all income derived from wages,
Social Security, bank interest, interest from stocks and bonds, etc.,
and including imputed income from all non-income-producing assets.
Income from non-income-producing assets shall be imputed at an annual
rate of 2% of the value of the non-income-producing assets. Notwithstanding
the above, no imputed income shall be attributed to the applicant's
principle residence.
|
Income From
|
Income To
|
Married Maximum
|
Unmarried Maximum
| ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Step 1
|
$0
|
$13,800
|
75%
|
75%
| |
|
Step 2
|
$13,800
|
$18,600
|
75%
|
65%
| |
|
Step 3
|
$18,600
|
$23,200
|
75%
|
50%
| |
|
Step 4
|
$23,200
|
$27,700
|
60%
|
35%
| |
|
Step 5
|
$27,700
|
$33,900
|
40%
|
15%
|
|
NOTE: The income levels will continue to be adjusted annually
by the Assessor to conform with the state tax relief program.
|
(1)
The income limits will be reviewed by the Tax Assessor, and adjusted
each year in accordance with the state income levels determined pursuant
to the General Statutes for tax relief for elderly and disabled individuals.
D.
In any case where title to real property is recorded in the name
of the taxpayer or his or her spouse who is eligible for tax relief
and any other person or persons, the tax relief under this article
shall be prorated to allow tax relief equivalent to the fractional
share in the property of such taxpayer or spouse, and the persons
not otherwise eligible for tax relief shall not receive any tax relief.
E.
All property owners who wish to apply for this tax relief may do
so from February 1 through May 15 annually by filing an application
with the Town Assessor. Upon application, all applicants must complete
all of the information on a form prepared by the Town Assessor and
provide proof of all forms of income from the prior calendar year.
All approved applicants will be required to refile biennially with
the Town Assessor.
F.
Applicants who are not the record owners of property but have a deeded
life use to their residence which requires the applicant to pay the
property taxes will qualify for a benefit under this program, provided
that they comply with all other requirements.
A.
Upon the death of a beneficiary of this program who is elderly, the
surviving spouse may continue to receive this tax relief if he/she
is 60 years of age or older as of the date of the primary applicants'
death. The surviving spouse will be required to refile biennially
with the Town Assessor and to meet all other program eligibility guidelines.
Once a surviving spouse does not qualify for the local tax relief
option for any reason other than age, he/she shall not be eligible
to continue with this tax relief.
Upon the death of a qualified applicant, or upon the recording
of any instrument with the Somers Town Clerk indicating that the local
tax relief option beneficiary is no longer the primary recipient of
the local tax relief benefit (such as a transfer of the title of the
property), and that there is no surviving spouse eligible to assume
continuation of the benefit, the tax relief status shall be removed
and the current assessment for that assessment year shall be prorated.
The Assessor shall determine the eligibility of each person
who has applied for the program and shall calculate the tax liability
for all eligible persons, except that a lesser deduction shall be
made when and to the extent required to ensure that:
A.
No person shall receive a total tax relief, when combined with any
such other tax relief for which such taxpayer may be eligible in accordance
with Connecticut General Statutes §§ 12-129b, 12-129d,
inclusive, 12-129h or 12-170aa which exceeds 75% of the property tax
for which such taxpayer would be liable.
B.
The total of all relief granted under the provisions of this article
for any tax year shall not exceed an amount equal to 1/2% of the Town
of Somers current adopted operating budget in effect as of February
1. In the event it exceeds 1/2% of the budget, the tax relief given
to eligible persons shall be prorated uniformly to keep the total
amount of town tax relief within the statutory limit using the following
formula:
|
1/2 of 1% of Total Operating Budget
Cost of Program
|
= Prorate %
|
C.
The Board of Finance may impose an annual limit on the total amount
of tax relief under this section.
The amount of relief shall be determined by the taxes on the
Grand List preceding the application period and remain in effect for
two years unless one of the following occurs:
A.
In the event that under a revaluation and by applying the current
mill rate, the tax owned on a property under this article is less
than the stabilized figure granted under this article, then the Assessor
shall reset the stabilized tax at the lower figure.
B.
If there are improvements, changes, alterations, or additions that
result in an increase in the assessed value of the stabilized residential
property, the property shall be reevaluated at the stabilized mill
rate.
This article shall apply to annual real property taxes as are
due and payable for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2004, and subsequent
years.
