March 16, 2009 |
2009-R-0156 | |
BRIDGEPORT ELDERLY RENTAL HOUSING PILOT FUNDING | ||
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By: Joseph Holstead, Associate Analyst, OLR And Emily Shepard, Associate Analyst, OFA | ||
You asked for information regarding the Payment-in-Lieu-of-Taxes (PILOT) program and public elderly rental housing developments in Bridgeport.
There are no developments in Bridgeport that receive funding under the Department of Economic and Community Development's (DECD) PILOT program. In order to receive funding under PILOT, a housing authority must administer projects that were financed under DECD's Moderate Rental Housing program, as established in CGS 8-69. This is different from “state-assisted,” which means that the original project was built or rehabbed with state bond funds through other programs of the Department of Housing (now DECD). Other possible funding mechanisms are the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), their own tax exempt bond financing, or conventional bank/mortgage financing.
According to the Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, there are six Section 8 elderly housing developments located in Bridgeport (noted in the table below). Property owned by the federal government, including HUD, is exempt from property taxes under CGS 12-81(1).
Source: Connecticut Housing Finance Authority, http://www.chfa.org/Multifamily/Multifamily%20Units%20by%20County.pdf
BACKGROUND ON DECD'S PILOT
Noncommercial property owned by a housing authority is exempt from taxes under CGS § 8-58. Under CGS § 8-58, a municipality can (1) set a PILOT to be paid by a housing authority for its projects, (2) agree that the authority does not have to make a PILOT, or (3) agree with the authority or the federal government to make a PILOT for a set number of years or agree to accept a fixed sum or some other form of consideration instead. The law (PA 08-10) allows the economic and community development commissioner to continue reimbursing municipalities for property tax abatements and exemptions granted to low- and moderate-income housing (CGS § 8-216).
The Governor's FY 10- FY 11 Recommended Biennial Budget does not include funding for the PILOT and Tax Abatement programs in DECD.
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