Substitute House Bill No. 5035
AN ACT CONCERNING PROPERTY TAX ASSESSMENTS BY MUNICIPALITIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 12-53a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2012, and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after said date):
(a) (1) Completed new construction of real estate completed after any assessment date shall be liable for the payment of municipal taxes based on the assessed value of such completed new construction from the date the certificate of occupancy is issued or the date on which such new construction is first used for the purpose for which same was constructed, whichever is the earlier, prorated for the assessment year in which the new construction is completed. Said prorated tax shall be computed on the basis of the rate of tax applicable with respect to such property, including the applicable rate of tax in any tax district in which such property is subject to tax following completion of such new construction, on the date such property becomes liable for such prorated tax in accordance with this section.
(2) Partially completed new construction of real estate shall be liable for the payment of municipal taxes based on the assessed value of such partially completed new construction as of October first of the assessment year.
Sec. 2. Subsection (c) of section 12-62c of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2012, and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after said date):
(c) The assessment of any new construction that first becomes subject to taxation pursuant to subdivision (1) of subsection (a) of section 12-53a, as amended by this act, during an assessment year encompassed within the term of a phase-in shall be determined in the same manner as the assessment of all other comparable real property in said assessment year, such that the total of incremental increases applicable to such other comparable real property are reflected in the assessment of such new construction prior to the proration of such assessment pursuant to section 12-53a, as amended by this act.
Sec. 3. Subsection (a) of section 12-64 of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2012, and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after said date):
(a) All the following-mentioned property, not exempted, shall be set in the list of the town where it is situated and, except as otherwise provided by law, shall be liable to taxation at a uniform percentage of its present true and actual valuation, not exceeding one hundred per cent of such valuation, to be determined by the assessors: Dwelling houses, garages, barns, sheds, stores, shops, mills, buildings used for business, commercial, financial, manufacturing, mercantile and trading purposes, ice houses, warehouses, silos, all other buildings and structures, house lots, all other building lots and improvements thereon and thereto, including improvements that are partially completed or under construction, agricultural lands, shellfish lands, all other lands and improvements thereon and thereto, quarries, mines, ore beds, fisheries, property in fish pounds, machinery and easements to use air space whether or not contiguous to the surface of the ground. An easement to use air space shall be an interest in real estate and may be assessed separately from the surface of the ground below it. Any interest in real estate shall be set by the assessors in the list of the person in whose name the title to such interest stands on the land records. If the interest in real estate consists of an easement to use air space, whether or not contiguous to the surface of the ground, which easement is in the form of a lease for a period of not less than fifty years, which lease is recorded in the land records of the town and provides that the lessee shall pay all taxes, said interest shall be deemed to be a separate parcel and shall be separately assessed in the name of the lessee. If the interest in real estate consists of a lease of land used for residential purposes which allows the lessee to remove any or all of the structures, buildings or other improvements on said land erected or owned by the lessee, which lease is recorded in the land records of the town and provides that the lessee shall pay all taxes with respect to such structures, buildings or other improvements, said interest shall be deemed to be a separate parcel and said structures, buildings or other improvements shall be separately assessed in the name of the lessee, provided such separate assessment shall not alter or limit in any way the enforcement of a lien on such real estate in accordance with chapter 205, for taxes with respect to such real estate including said land, structures, buildings or other improvements. For purposes of determining the applicability of the provisions of this section to any such interest in real estate, the term "lessee" shall mean any person who is a lessee or sublessee under the terms of the lease agreement in accordance with which such interest in real estate is established.
Approved June 15, 2012