OLR Bill Analysis
AN ACT CONCERNING THE ALLOCATION OF CERTAIN TAX AND GRANT PAYMENTS TO LESSER TAXING DISTRICTS.
By law, towns must share with their unconsolidated cities or boroughs amounts they receive from (1) the statewide 47-mill tax on telecommunications company personal property and (2) the municipal video competition trust account.
This bill establishes a $ 5 minimum for amounts towns must distribute to their lesser taxing districts and allows the towns to retain any smaller amounts. It also clarifies the timing and administration of the required municipal video competition trust account distributions from the state to towns, and from towns to their unconsolidated cities or boroughs. Both provisions are retroactive to fiscal years starting on or after July 1, 2008.
EFFECTIVE DATE: Upon passage
MUNICIPAL VIDEO COMPETITION TRUST ACCOUNT DISTRIBUTION
By law, the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) secretary must distribute the funds in this account to towns based on their proportional shares of the total number of subscribers to certified competitive video service in the state, while the distribution to unconsolidated cities or boroughs is based on their proportional share of property taxes levied in the town.
The bill specifies that what the state must distribute is the account balance at the end of the fiscal year preceding the distribution date (September 30th annually). It also requires that the distribution to towns be based on data from the fiscal year preceding the distribution year, and that the distribution to the unconsolidated cities and boroughs must be based on the proportional tax levies in the most recent fiscal year for which OPM has received the certified audit report required by the municipal auditing law. Finally, it requires the OPM secretary to certify to the comptroller the dollar amount, rather than the account percentage, each municipality must receive.
BACKGROUND
Municipal Video Competition Trust Account
The account is funded by a maximum of $ 5 million per year in revenue from the state gross earnings tax on certified competitive video service providers. The funds must be distributed annually for property tax relief. Certified competitive video service providers are companies other than cable television companies and their affiliates that provide video programming to customers and that are certified to do so by the Department of Public Utility Control.
COMMITTEE ACTION
Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee
Joint Favorable
Yea |
53 |
Nay |
0 |
(03/24/2009) |