Bill Text: CT HB05583 | 2014 | General Assembly | Introduced
Bill Title: An Act Concerning The Payment Of Real Property Taxes By Certain Institutions Of Higher Learning And Hospital Facilities.
Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 8-1)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2014-05-03 - Senate Calendar Number 570 [HB05583 Detail]
Download: Connecticut-2014-HB05583-Introduced.html
General Assembly |
Raised Bill No. 5583 | ||
February Session, 2014 |
LCO No. 2622 | ||
*02622_______PD_* | |||
Referred to Committee on PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT |
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Introduced by: |
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(PD) |
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AN ACT CONCERNING THE PAYMENT OF REAL PROPERTY TAXES BY CERTAIN INSTITUTIONS OF HIGHER LEARNING AND HOSPITAL FACILITIES.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 1. Section 12-20a of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after said date):
(a) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Hospital facility" means any nonprofit general hospital facility or freestanding chronic disease hospital or any urgent care facility that operates for at least twelve hours a day and had been the location of a nonprofit general hospital for at least a portion of calendar year 1996, exclusive of any such facility operated by the federal government, except a campus of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare Systems, or the state of Connecticut or any subdivision thereof;
(2) "Private nonprofit institution of higher learning" means any institution, as defined in subsection (a) of section 10a-34, or any independent college or university, as defined in section 10a-37, that is engaged primarily in education beyond the high school level, and offers courses of instruction for which college or university-level credit may be given or may be received by transfer, the property of which is exempt from property tax under any of the subdivisions of section 12-81;
(3) "Nonprofit general hospital facility" means any facility that is used primarily for the purpose of general medical care and treatment, exclusive of any hospital facility used primarily for the care and treatment of special types of disease or physical or mental conditions;
(4) "Freestanding chronic disease hospital" means a facility that provides for the care and treatment of chronic diseases, excluding any such facility having an ownership affiliation with and operated in the same location as a chronic and convalescent nursing home; and
(5) "Municipality" means any town, consolidated town and city, consolidated town and borough, borough, district, as defined in section 7-324, and any city not consolidated with a town.
(b) (1) Any private nonprofit institution of higher learning or any hospital facility shall be liable for the payment of real property taxes as follows: (A) For the assessment year commencing October 1, 2014, twenty per cent of real property taxes; (B) for the assessment year commencing October 1, 2015, forty per cent of real property taxes; (C) for the assessment year commencing October 1, 2016, sixty per cent of real property taxes; (D) for the assessment year commencing October 1, 2017, eighty per cent of real property taxes; and (E) for assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2018, one hundred per cent of real property taxes. Except as provided by subdivision (3) of this subsection, nothing in this subsection shall apply to any private nonprofit institution of higher learning or any hospital facility that has entered into an agreement with the municipality in which it is located for the payment of real property taxes for the current assessment year.
(2) On or before [January first, annually] September 1, 2015, and on or before September first annually thereafter, the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management shall determine the amount due to each [municipality] private nonprofit institution of higher learning or hospital facility in the state, in accordance with this [section] subsection and section 12-20b, as amended by this act, as a state grant [in lieu] for reimbursement of taxes with respect to real property owned by any private nonprofit institution of higher learning or any [nonprofit general] hospital facility. [or freestanding chronic disease hospital or an urgent care facility that operates for at least twelve hours a day and that had been the location of a nonprofit general hospital for at least a portion of calendar year 1996 to receive payments in lieu of taxes for such property, exclusive of any such facility operated by the federal government, except a campus of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare Systems, or the state of Connecticut or any subdivision thereof. As used in this section "private nonprofit institution of higher learning" means any such institution, as defined in subsection (a) of section 10a-34, or any independent college or university, as defined in section 10a-37, that is engaged primarily in education beyond the high school level, and offers courses of instruction for which college or university-level credit may be given or may be received by transfer, the property of which is exempt from property tax under any of the subdivisions of section 12-81; "nonprofit general hospital facility" means any such facility which is used primarily for the purpose of general medical care and treatment, exclusive of any hospital facility used primarily for the care and treatment of special types of disease or physical or mental conditions; and "freestanding chronic disease hospital" means a facility which provides for the care and treatment of chronic diseases, excluding any such facility having an ownership affiliation with and operated in the same location as a chronic and convalescent nursing home.] The grant payable to any private nonprofit institution of higher learning or hospital facility under the provisions of this subsection in the state fiscal year commencing July 1, 2015, and in each fiscal year thereafter, shall be equal to seventy-seven per cent of such property taxes, provided in any year in which the private nonprofit institution of higher learning or hospital facility pays a percentage of taxes to a municipality that is lower than seventy-seven per cent of such property taxes, as provided in subdivision (1) of this subsection, the grant amount payable to such institution or facility shall be equal to the percentage actually paid, and any amount over such percentage shall be paid to the municipality in which such institution or facility is located as a grant in lieu of taxes. The amount of the grant payable to each institution or facility in any year, or to the municipality, in accordance with this section shall be reduced proportionately in the event that the total of such grants in such year exceeds the amount appropriated for the purposes of this section with respect to such year.
(3) Any private nonprofit institution of higher learning or any hospital facility that has entered into an agreement with the municipality in which it is located for the payment of real property taxes for the current assessment year shall be eligible to receive a state grant for reimbursement of taxes pursuant to subdivision (2) of this subsection if such agreement requires such institution or facility to pay an amount that exceeds the amount of the grant such institution or facility would have received pursuant to said subdivision in the absence of such agreement.
[(b) The grant payable to any municipality under the provisions of this section in the state fiscal year commencing July 1, 1999, and in each fiscal year thereafter, shall be equal to seventy-seven per cent of the property taxes which, except for any exemption applicable to any such institution of higher education or general hospital facility under the provisions of section 12-81, would have been paid with respect to such exempt real property on the assessment list in such municipality for the assessment date two years prior to the commencement of the state fiscal year in which such grant is payable. The amount of the grant payable to each municipality in any year in accordance with this section shall be reduced proportionately in the event that the total of such grants in such year exceeds the amount appropriated for the purposes of this section with respect to such year.]
(c) [Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (b) of this section, the] The amount of the grant in lieu of taxes payable to any municipality [under the provisions of this section] with respect to a campus of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Connecticut Healthcare Systems shall be [as follows: (1) For the fiscal year ending June 30, 2007, twenty per cent of the amount payable in accordance with said subsection (b); (2) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2008, forty per cent of such amount; (3) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009, sixty per cent of such amount; (4) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2010, eighty per cent of such amount; (5) for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2011, and each fiscal year thereafter,] one hundred per cent of [such amount] the property taxes that, except for the exemption applicable to such campus, would have been paid with respect to such exempt real property.
[(d) As used in this section and section 12-20b, the word "municipality" means any town, consolidated town and city, consolidated town and borough, borough, district, as defined in section 7-324, and any city not consolidated with a town.]
Sec. 2. Section 12-20b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after said date):
(a) Not later than April first in each year, any municipality to which a grant is payable under the provisions of section 12-20a, as amended by this act, shall provide the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management with the assessed valuation of the tax-exempt real property as of the immediately preceding October first, adjusted in accordance with any gradual increase in or deferment of assessed values of real property implemented in accordance with section 12-62c, [which] that is required for computation of such grant. Any municipality [which] that neglects to transmit to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management the assessed valuation as required by this section shall forfeit two hundred fifty dollars to the state, provided the secretary may waive such forfeiture in accordance with procedures and standards adopted by regulation in accordance with chapter 54. Said secretary may, on or before the first day of August of the state fiscal year in which such grant is payable, reevaluate any such property when, in his or her judgment, the valuation is inaccurate and shall notify such municipality of such reevaluation. Any municipality aggrieved by the action of said secretary under the provisions of this section may, not later than ten business days following receipt of such notice, appeal to the secretary for a hearing concerning such reevaluation, provided such appeal shall be in writing and shall include a statement as to the reasons for such appeal. The secretary shall, not later than ten business days following receipt of such appeal, grant or deny such hearing by notification in writing, including in the event of a denial, a statement as to the reasons for such denial. If any municipality is aggrieved by the action of the secretary following such hearing or in denying any such hearing, the municipality may not later than two weeks after such notice, appeal to the superior court for the judicial district in which the municipality is located. Any such appeal shall be privileged. Said secretary shall certify to the Comptroller the amount due each municipality under the provisions of section 12-20a, as amended by this act, or under any recomputation occurring prior to September fifteenth [which] that may be effected as the result of the provisions of this section, and the Comptroller shall draw his or her order on the Treasurer on or before the fifth business day following September fifteenth and the Treasurer shall pay the amount thereof to such municipality on or before the thirtieth day of September following. If any recomputation is effected as the result of the provisions of this section on or after the January first following the date on which the municipality has provided the assessed valuation in question, any adjustments to the amount due to any municipality for the period for which such adjustments were made shall be made in the next payment the Treasurer shall make to such municipality pursuant to this section.
(b) Not later than August first in each year, any private nonprofit institution of higher learning, as defined in section 12-20a, as amended by this act, and any hospital facility, as defined in section 12-20a, as amended by this act, to which a grant is payable under the provisions of said section, shall provide the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management with documentation showing (1) the assessed value of the real property for which such institution or facility is liable to pay taxes, and (2) the amount of the taxes paid by such institution or facility for the assessment year commencing the immediately preceding October first. Any institution or facility that neglects to transmit to the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management the documentation required by this section shall forfeit two hundred fifty dollars to the state, provided the secretary may waive such forfeiture in accordance with procedures and standards adopted by regulation in accordance with chapter 54. Said secretary shall certify to the Comptroller the amount due each institution or facility under the provisions of section 12-20a, as amended by this act, and the Comptroller shall draw his or her order on the Treasurer on or before the fifth business day following September fifteenth and the Treasurer shall pay the amount thereof to such institution or facility on or before the thirtieth day of September following.
[(b)] (c) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 12-20a, as amended by this act, or subsection (a) of this section, the amount due the municipality of Branford, on or before the thirtieth day of September, annually, with respect to the Connecticut Hospice, in Branford, shall be one hundred thousand dollars, which amount shall be paid from the annual appropriation, from the General Fund, for reimbursement to towns for loss of taxes on private tax-exempt property.
[(c)] (d) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 12-20a, as amended by this act, or subsection (a) of this section, the amount due the city of New London, on or before the thirtieth day of September, annually, with respect to the United States Coast Guard Academy in New London, shall be one million dollars, which amount shall be paid from the annual appropriation, from the General Fund, for reimbursement to towns for loss of taxes on private tax-exempt property.
Sec. 3. Subsections (c) and (d) of section 3-55j of the general statutes are repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after said date):
(c) Twenty million one hundred twenty-three thousand nine hundred sixteen dollars of the moneys available in the Mashantucket Pequot and Mohegan Fund established by section 3-55i shall be paid to [municipalities] private nonprofit institutions of higher learning, as defined in section 12-20a, as amended by this act, and hospital facilities, as defined in section 12-20a, as amended by this act, eligible for a state grant [in lieu] for reimbursement of taxes paid pursuant to section 12-20a, as amended by this act, in addition to and in the same proportion as the grants payable to such [municipalities] institutions and facilities pursuant to section 12-20a, as amended by this act, subject to the provisions of subsection (d) of this section. [Any eligible special services district shall receive a portion of the grant payable under this subsection to the town in which such district is located. The portion payable to any such district under this subsection shall be the amount of the grant to the town under this subsection which results from application of the district mill rate to exempt property in the district.]
(d) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, no [municipality] private nonprofit institution of higher learning or hospital facility shall receive a grant pursuant to said subsection which, when added to the amount of the grant payable to such [municipality] institution or facility pursuant to section 12-20a, as amended by this act, would exceed one hundred per cent of the property taxes [which, except for any exemption applicable to any private nonprofit institution of higher education, nonprofit general hospital facility or freestanding chronic disease hospital under the provisions of section 12-81, would have been paid with respect to such exempt real property on the assessment list in such municipality for the assessment date two years prior to the commencement of the state fiscal year in which such grants are payable] paid by such institution or facility. In any year in which a private nonprofit institution of higher learning or a hospital facility is liable for less than one hundred per cent of real property taxes, any moneys remaining after making a grant to any such institution or facility pursuant to subsection (c) of this section shall be paid proportionately to the municipality in which such institution or facility is located as a grant in lieu of taxes.
Sec. 4. Subdivision (7) of section 12-81 of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after said date):
(A) Subject to the provisions of sections 12-87, [and] 12-88 and 12-20a, as amended by this act, the real property of, or held in trust for, a corporation organized exclusively for scientific, educational, literary, historical or charitable purposes or for two or more such purposes and used exclusively for carrying out one or more of such purposes or for the purpose of preserving open space land, as defined in section 12-107b, for any of the uses specified in said section, that is owned by any such corporation, and the personal property of, or held in trust for, any such corporation, provided (i) any officer, member or employee thereof does not receive or at any future time shall not receive any pecuniary profit from the operations thereof, except reasonable compensation for services in effecting one or more of such purposes or as proper beneficiary of its strictly charitable purposes, and (ii) in 1965, and quadrennially thereafter, a statement shall be filed on or before the first day of November with the assessor or board of assessors of any town, consolidated town and city or consolidated town and borough, in which any of its property claimed to be exempt is situated. Such statement shall be filed on a form provided by such assessor or board of assessors. The real property shall be eligible for the exemption regardless of whether it is used by another corporation organized exclusively for scientific, educational, literary, historical or charitable purposes or for two or more such purposes;
(B) On and after July 1, 1967, housing subsidized, in whole or in part, by federal, state or local government and housing for persons or families of low and moderate income shall not constitute a charitable purpose under this section. As used in this subdivision, "housing" shall not include real property used for temporary housing belonging to, or held in trust for, any corporation organized exclusively for charitable purposes and exempt from taxation for federal income tax purposes, the primary use of which property is one or more of the following: (i) An orphanage; (ii) a drug or alcohol treatment or rehabilitation facility; (iii) housing for homeless individuals, mentally or physically handicapped individuals or persons with intellectual disability, or for victims of domestic violence; (iv) housing for ex-offenders or for individuals participating in a program sponsored by the state Department of Correction or Judicial Branch; and (v) short-term housing operated by a charitable organization where the average length of stay is less than six months. The operation of such housing, including the receipt of any rental payments, by such charitable organization shall be deemed to be an exclusively charitable purpose;
Sec. 5. Subdivision (8) of section 12-81 of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after said date):
(8) [The] Subject to the provisions of section 12-20a, as amended by this act, the funds and estate which have been or may be granted, provided by the state, or given by any person or persons to the Trustees of the Berkeley Divinity School, the board of trustees of Connecticut College for Women, the Hartford Seminary Foundation, Sheffield Scientific School, Trinity College, Wesleyan University or The President and Fellows of Yale College in New Haven, and by them respectively invested and held for the use of such institutions, with the income thereof; provided none of said corporations shall hold in this state real estate free from taxation affording an annual income of more than six thousand dollars. Such exemption shall not apply to any real estate which said Trustees of the Berkeley Divinity School own, control or hold in trust, and which is situated in the city of Middletown. No other provision of this section concerning exemption of property used for educational purposes shall be construed to affect any provision of this subdivision;
Sec. 6. Subdivision (16) of section 12-81 of the 2014 supplement to the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after said date):
(16) Subject to the provisions of [section] sections 12-88 and 12-20a, as amended by this act, all property of, or held in trust for, any Connecticut hospital society or corporation or sanatorium, provided (A) no officer, member or employee thereof receives or, at any future time, shall receive any pecuniary profit from the operations thereof, except reasonable compensation for services in the conduct of its affairs, and (B) in 1967, and quadrennially thereafter, a statement shall be filed by such hospital society, corporation or sanatorium on or before the first day of November with the assessor or board of assessors of any town, consolidated town and city or consolidated town and borough, in which any of its property claimed to be exempt is situated. Such statement shall be filed on a form provided by such assessor or board of assessors;
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections: | ||
Section 1 |
October 1, 2014, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after said date |
12-20a |
Sec. 2 |
October 1, 2014, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after said date |
12-20b |
Sec. 3 |
October 1, 2014, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after said date |
3-55j(c) and (d) |
Sec. 4 |
October 1, 2014, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after said date |
12-81(7) |
Sec. 5 |
October 1, 2014, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after said date |
12-81(8) |
Sec. 6 |
October 1, 2014, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after said date |
12-81(16) |
Statement of Purpose:
To make certain private institutions of higher learning and hospital facilities liable for the payment of real property taxes and to provide a mechanism for the state to provide grants in order to reimburse such institutions and facilities for such payments.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]