[Adopted 3-13-2001 by Ord. No. 482[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed
Ord. No. 479, adopted 6-27-2000, which provided a tax exemption for
vehicles owned by persons with disabilities.
Pursuant to the authority granted to municipalities
by § 12-81c of the Connecticut General Statutes, the Town
Council hereby enacts an ordinance to exempt from personal property
taxation any motor vehicle owned by a person with disabilities or
owned by the parent or guardian of a person with disabilities.
As used in this article, the following terms
shall have the meanings indicated:
A motor vehicle which has undergone a permanent modification
to its frame or other structural member by the bolting or welding
of special equipment for the purpose of adapting its use to the physical
impairment of the owner of such motor vehicle or to the physical impairment
of the owner's child or ward. Such equipment shall include raised
roofs with roll-bar systems, raised doors, special control stations,
dropped floors, kneeling systems, wheelchair lift, ramp, hand controls,
cart lift and any other device or mechanism necessary to permit its
operation by the owner of such motor vehicle or to permit its accommodation
for the owner's child or ward.
A vehicle as defined by § 14-1(47) of the Connecticut
General Statutes.
Any owner of a motor vehicle who has a physical impairment,
or any owner of a motor vehicle whose child or ward has a physical
impairment, and whose physical impairment requires the special adaptive
equipment referenced in the definition of "equipped motor vehicle"
in order to adapt the use of such vehicle to the physical impairment
of the owner or to the physical impairment of the owner's child or
ward. Persons with physical impairments of a limited duration shall
not be considered as persons with disabilities.
Any, which shall include more than one, equipped
motor vehicle shall be exempt from personal property taxation.
The Assessor shall require written and signed
documentation verifying that the installation of the special equipment
is directly related to the physical impairment of the person with
disabilities in order to adapt the operation or the accommodation
of such motor vehicle to such person. Such documentation shall be
provided by a physician licensed to practice medicine in the State
of Connecticut. Any such exemption shall expire when the vehicle is
sold.
Applications to establish eligibility for the
exemption permitted by this article shall be filed annually with the
Assessor not later than December 31 following the assessment date
with respect to which such exemption is claimed. For motor vehicles
purchased on or after October 2 and on or before July 31 of the assessment
year for which such exemption is claimed, said application shall be
filed not later than 60 days after such purchase. Applications for
exemption relative to the assessment year which commenced on October
1, 2000, may be made at any time prior to the expiration of such easement
year.
This article shall be first applicable to the
assessment year which commenced on October 1, 2000.
