Any person who owns real property in the town or who is liable for the payment of taxes thereon under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-48 and who occupies that property as his or her principal residence, shall be eligible for real property tax relief pursuant to Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-129n in the form of a tax credit provided that all the following conditions are met.
(A) The person is:
(1) Sixty five years of age or over at the close of the calendar year preceding the period in which a claim for relief is filed; or whose spouse living with him or her is 65 years of age or over at the close of the calendar year preceding the period in which a claim for relief is filed; or the person is 60
years of age or over and the surviving spouse of a taxpayer qualified in the town under this subchapter at the time of his or her death or with respect to real property on which the applicant or his or her spouse is liable for taxes under Conn. Gen. Stat. § 12-48; or
(2) Under age 65 years of age and eligible in accordance with applicable federal regulations to receive permanent total disability benefits under Social Security, or has not been engaged in employment covered by Social Security and accordingly has not qualified for benefits thereunder, but has become qualified for permanent total disability benefits under any federal, state or local government retirement disability plan, including the Railroad Retirement Act and any government-related teacher’s retirement plan, in which requirements with respect to qualifications for permanent total disability benefits are comparable to the requirements under Social Security.
(B) The applicant and/or his or her spouse under divisions (A)(1) or (A)(2) above must have been a real property taxpayer of the town for three years immediately preceding their receipt of tax benefits under this subchapter and meet the requirements with respect to maximum income allowance during the calendar year preceding the year in which the application is made for the tax credit provided in this subchapter.
(C) The applicants must own and occupy the real property in the town for which this tax credit is claimed as their principal residence. PRINCIPAL RESIDENCE shall be defined as residency of at least 183 days per year in each of the three years prior to the application and in each abated tax year thereafter. A surviving spouse is not required to have had an ownership interest in the property prior to the applicant’s death, but must be the record owner of the property within 12 months thereafter and meet the other requirements as set forth in this subchapter.
(D) An applicant(s) shall individually, if unmarried, or jointly, if married, demonstrate an adjusted gross income of $36,900 or less, in accordance with the guidelines set forth below during the calendar year preceding the filing of his or her application. The applicant shall demonstrate “qualifying income,” as defined in § 35H of the State Circuit Breaker application, § 7, from Social Security benefits and all other income, by producing his or her Internal Revenue Service Form 1040.
(E) In addition to meeting the “qualifying income” standards as set forth in this Tax Relief Program, the applicant must first apply for Circuit Breaker tax relief provided by the state. If the applicant is denied eligibility for tax relief granted under one or more of the State Circuit Breaker programs, the Assessor shall deny the applicant the local share of tax relief, remove the applicant from the abatement records and bill him or her for the full real estate tax due; provided, however, that an unmarried applicant with an income between $27,701 and $36,900 and a married applicant with an income between $33,901 and $36,900 shall not be required to supply for or be granted State Circuit Breaker benefits.
(F) All taxes due and payable to the town must be paid and not be in arrears to maintain eligibility under this tax relief program.
(Ord. passed 2-13-2006)