The Office of Policy and Management has limited authority in the area of property (real, personal, motor vehicle) assessment and taxation. Assessment and taxation are administered on the municipal level and one should check with their local assessor and tax collector for more information. OPM does not have the authority to waive taxes or the interest on delinquent taxes. OPM does not have the authority to override a determination that a local assessor or tax collector makes, nor provide legal opinions about assessment and taxation legislation that municipal officials administer.
OPM issues guidelines for property tax exemption and tax credit programs for which municipalities receive state reimbursement for their tax losses. OPM determines annual personal property taxes for certain companies that provide telecommunications services. OPM also prescribes the application that a taxpayer uses to obtain maritime heritage land classification.
OPM provides the relative General Statutes of Connecticut and general information to assist taxpayers in understanding this tax. Taxpayers and municipal officials should consult with an attorney on any interpretation.
Chapter 201 - State and Local Revenue Services; Department of Revenue Services
Chapter 203 - Property Tax Assessment
Chapter 204 - Local Levy and Collection of Taxes
Chapter 204a - Property Tax Relief for Elderly Homeowners and Renters and Persons with Permanent Total Disability
Overview of Statutes affecting property assessment and taxation
- Connecticut's Property Tax Framework
- Wavier of Taxes or Delinquent Interest
- Correcting Clerical Mistakes and Obtaining Tax Refunds
- Real Estate
- Personal Property
- Motor Vehicles
- Property Tax Exemptions, Abatements and Credits
Connecticut’s Property Tax Framework
There are 169 municipalities (cities and towns) in
Local governmental officials administer the property assessment and taxation. Statutes govern the manner in which a municipal assessor determines property assessments and the procedures that tax collectors use to collect property taxes. Statutes also authorize property tax exemptions, credits and abatements.
Some municipalities contain specific taxing districts that provide services that the municipality does not provide. The assessment of property that a municipal assessor determines is the basis for the tax that a district collects.
The assessment date is October 1 (Sec. 12-62a). Ownership of property on an assessment date makes a taxpayer liable for property taxes, unless the property is exempt from taxation. Certain property may also be subject to taxation if located in any
The grand list is a record of all taxable and tax-exempt property in a taxing jurisdiction as of the assessment date. Assessors must file the grand list by the end of January and receive an extension to do so by the municipality. If the assessment of real estate or personal property, other than a motor vehicle, increases from one assessment date to the next, an assessor must send an increase notice to the affected taxpayer (Sec. 12-55).
A taxpayer who disagrees with an assessor’s determination regarding an assessment has the right to submit a written request for a hearing to a local board of assessment appeals (Sec. 12-111). The date for submitting a hearing request is either February 20 or March 20, depending on when the grand list is completed; hearings occur in March or April and their duties must be concluded by March 31 or April 30. Boards of assessment appeals also meet at least once during the month of September to hear appeals related to motor vehicle assessments (Sec. 12-112). A taxpayer must appear in person at a hearing before the board of assessment appeals or must ensure that someone appears on the taxpayer’s behalf (Sec. 12-113). If a taxpayer disagrees with a determination of a board of assessment appeals, the taxpayer may file an appeal with the superior court for the judicial district in which the property is located (Sec. 12-117a).
After the board of assessment appeals finalizes determinations for hearings held in March or April, the municipality utilizes the grand list in the budgeting process and setting of a mill rate for the upcoming fiscal year. Multiplying the mill rate (the basis for which is a thousandth of a dollar) by a property’s net assessment results in the property tax. The net assessment of a property is the assessment minus all exemptions for which a taxpayer qualifies.
Although a taxpayer establishes a property tax liability as of October 1, a tax collector does not mail a tax bill for that liability until after a mill rate is set. Statutes require tax collectors to mail tax bills and also specifies that a tax collector’s failure to do so does not invalidate the tax. Failure to receive a tax bill does not exempt a taxpayer from payments of all taxes and all interest charges (Sec. 12-130).
Local jurisdictions determine whether property taxes are due in one or more installments. State law provides a thirty-day grace period for a property tax payment (Sec. 12-142). If a taxpayer pays a tax after the thirty-day grace period, the payment is delinquent. Statutes require tax collectors to add interest, at the rate of 1 ½ percent per month or any portion of a month, to a delinquent tax bill (Sec. 12-145). For example, a tax due July 1 is payable on or before August 1. If the tax is paid August 2, interest equals 3% (1 ½ percent for July and 1 ½ percent for August).
Interest becomes part of the property tax when a tax collector imposes it. Tax collectors cannot accept a partial payment of a delinquent tax that is less than the total of the accrued interest on the principal of the tax. Each payment reduces the interest before reducing the principal (Sec. 12-146).
Tax collectors may issue tax warrants to collect outstanding property taxes (Sec. 12-135) and may initiate foreclosure proceedings with regard to delinquent real estate taxes (Sec. 12-157). They may report taxpayers who are delinquent in paying motor vehicle property taxes to the Department of Motor Vehicles, in which case the taxpayer cannot obtain a registration or registration renewal without providing proof of payment of the outstanding tax. Municipalities may refer delinquent taxpayers to collection agencies and may also use other means to collect taxes that are delinquent.
State law allows for the collection of property taxes within fifteen years after a tax due date (Sec. 12-164).
Waiver of Taxes or Delinquent Interest
The selectmen of towns, the mayor and aldermen of cities, the warden and burgesses of boroughs may abate the taxes, interest on delinquent taxes, or both, for a person who is poor and unable to pay, provided it is additionally approved by a standing abatement committee (Sec. 12-124).
A municipality’s legislative body (or its board of selectmen in a town in which the legislative body is a town meeting) may abate the property tax for an owner-occupied residential dwelling, to the extent that the tax exceeds 8% or more of the total income of all occupants (Sec. 12-124a).
A tax collector may waive the interest on delinquent property taxes if the tax collector and the assessor, jointly, determine that the delinquency is attributable to an error by the tax assessor or tax collector and is not the result of any action or failure to act on the part of the taxpayer (Sec. 12-145).
Statutes require a municipality to waive interest on a delinquent tax for any taxpayer who received compensation from the State of
Correcting Clerical Mistakes and Obtaining Tax Refunds
An assessor has the authority to correct a clerical error or omission in a property assessment within the statutory time period (Sec. 12-60). An assessor has the authority to issue a certificate of correction regarding personal property within a specified time period and to issue corrections regarding certain motor vehicles (Sec. 12-57).
If a correction occurs after a tax payment is made, a taxpayer may send a written request for a refund of an overpayment to the tax collector, not later than three years from the date the tax was due (Sec. 12-129). Statutes provide a more extensive time period for the recovery of a tax overpayment by a member of the
Real estate is all land and all improvements (such as buildings, fences, and paved driveways), as well as easements to use air space (Sec. 12-64).
The assessment of each parcel of real property represents 70% of its estimated fair market value as of the date of a revaluation (Sec. 12-62, Sec. 12-62a and Sec. 12-63). Assessors value classified farm, forest, open space and maritime heritage on the basis of use, rather than on a fair market value basis (Sec. 12-107b through Sec. 12-107f).
A revaluation re-establishes the current fair market value of all real estate, in order to equalize the tax burden among property owners. While assessors must revalue all real estate not later than five years after the October 1 effective date of the previous revaluation, they may revalue real estate more often than once every five years (Sec. 12-55 and Sec. 12-62).
Before a revaluation becomes effective, taxpayers may receive questionnaires to verify property information. At least once in every ten assessment years, an assessor may request a taxpayer’s permission to enter a building in order to verify its condition and collect other information to establish its fair market value (Sec. 12-63). Statutes impose reporting requirements that affect owners of certain income-producing real estate in conjunction with revaluations (Sec. 12-63c).
Municipalities may choose to phase-in real estate assessment increases when implementing a revaluation. They may phase-in all or a portion of the increase for up to five years (Sec. 12-62c).
Upon the completion of new construction or building additions in any year after the effective date of a revaluation, a taxpayer’s property assessment increases. The increase represents the portion of an assessment year during which the improvement may be used for its intended purpose (Sec. 12-53a). A real estate assessment reduction may occur during an assessment due to the demolition of a building (Sec. 12-64a).
In general, personal property is anything that is moveable and is not a permanent part of real estate, including items such as business-owned furniture, fixtures, machinery or equipment, as well as horses and unregistered motor vehicles and snowmobiles that anyone owns (Sec. 12-71).
A taxpayer must file a Declaration of Personal Property with the municipal assessor in which personal property is subject to taxation by November 1 annually (Sec. 12-41). An assessor may grant a taxpayer an extension of up to forty-five days to file a declaration (Sec. 12-42). Nonresident taxpayers must also file a declaration (Sec. 12-43).
Lessors of personal property must file a report with assessors by November 1 annually. This requirement affects any personal property (other than a
On a Declaration of Personal Property, a taxpayer provides information concerning the year of acquisition of personal property, as well as the original cost of acquisition, freight and installation. Assessors apply depreciation to the total cost a taxpayer declares to obtain the depreciated value of personal property. The assessment of the property is 70% of the depreciated value.
If a taxpayer files a Declaration of Personal Property subsequent to the date it is due, the assessor adds a 25% assessment penalty. A 25% assessment penalty can also be applied if a taxpayer fails to file a declaration, in which case an assessor uses the best information available to determine the value of the taxpayer’s personal property (Sec. 12-41 and Sec. 12-42).
An assessor may conduct an audit regarding a taxpayer’s personal property. If an audit reveals that a taxpayer omitted property from a declaration or did not accurately report personal property costs, statutes provide for a 25% penalty of the assessed value. Interest is applicable to the tax for such property from the tax due date for the assessment year to which the audit relates (Sec. 12-53).
Motor vehicles are subject to taxation in the municipality where, in the normal course of their operation, they most frequently leave from and return to or remain, although statutes provide some exceptions (Sec. 12-71).
All motor vehicles a taxpayer owns on an assessment date are subject to taxation, regardless of whether the Department of Motor Vehicles issues a Connecticut registration for them. Taxes for such vehicles are due the following July 1. Motor vehicles registered subsequent to October 1 are also subject to taxation. The assessment of a vehicle registered between October 2 and the following July 31, which represents only a portion of the assessment year, is included on a supplemental grand list. Supplemental grand list taxes are billed in January following the conclusion of the assessment year in which the registration of these vehicles occurs.
A property tax reduction or credit is available when a taxpayer sells a motor vehicle and does not replace it with another vehicle. If a taxpayer replaces one vehicle with another, the assessor reduces the assessment of the replacement vehicle on the supplemental grand list to reflect the credit (Sec. 12-71b).
For the October 1, 2023 Grand List year and prior, the assessment of a motor vehicle is 70% of its average retail value. OPM, in cooperation with the Connecticut Association of Assessing Officers, Inc., and in accordance with Section 12-71d of the Connecticut General Statutes, recommends the use of the J.D. Power Values Guides in preparation of the Grand Lists. The valuation of motor vehicles not included in the recommended schedules is the responsibility of the assessor.
Effective with the October 1, 2024 Grand List, assessors utilize the Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) of a vehicle and apply the statutory depreciation schedule to calculate the depreciated value of your vehicle. The depreciated value will then be multiplied by the statewide assessment ratio of 70%, producing the assessed value of your vehicle for taxation. The assessed value of a motor vehicle will automatically decrease according to the depreciation schedule and will be assessed at no less than $500 for taxation purposes at any time (JSS PA 24-1). Motor Vehicle Changes for Taxpayer
Motor vehicles are assessed based on MSRP without factors such as high mileage, salvage vehicles, and rebuilt titles. The only grounds for appeal for a taxpayer is if the assessor did not base the assessment from the vehicle’s MSRP. Vehicle owners may appeal the MSRP determination to the Board of Assessment Appeals at their next successive meeting.
Statutes allow municipalities and special taxing districts to tax motor vehicles at a different rate than other taxable property, but it imposes a cap on the motor vehicle mill rate. No district or borough may set a motor vehicle mill rate that if combined with the motor vehicle mill rate of the town, city, consolidated town and city or consolidated town and borough in which such district or borough is located would result in a combined motor vehicle mill rate above the cap. This provision supersedes any special act, municipal charter, or home rule ordinance (Sec. 12-71e).
Assessment Year |
Mill Rate Cap | ||
October 1, 2016 | 39.00 | ||
October 1, 2017 - October 1, 2020 | 45.00 | ||
October 1, 2021 and thereafter |
32.46 |
Property Tax Exemptions, Abatements and Credits
Statutes authorize various property tax exemptions for
Some property tax exemptions are available only by local municipal option (Sec. 12-81n through Sec. 12-81bb). Property tax abatements may also be available for certain types of new construction or rehabilitation in areas (Sec. 12-65 to Sec. 12-65h) and up to 50% for certain types of property uses (Sec. 12-81m).
The exemption statutes set forth eligibility and application filing requirements.
Property tax credits are available to income-eligible elderly and totally disabled homeowners; the State of
The State of