Friday, October 16, 2009

Stewart blasts O’Brien property tax reform plan - The New Britain Herald (newbritainherald.com)

Posted by Frank Smith at 16.10.09

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

If Tim O'Brien plans to work closely with the legislature on the property tax reform plan, he should get his wish...he'll lose the mayoral election and will be able to continue on as a legislator and fulfill that promise.

October 16, 2009 at 2:50 PM
Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

If Tim O'Brien plans to work closely with the legislature on the property tax reform plan, he should get his wish...he'll lose the mayoral election and will be able to continue on as a legislator and fulfill that promise.......

But then he must focus on getting re-elected next year. We must be able to come up with someone better to represent us in Hartford, can't we?

October 16, 2009 at 8:16 PM
Anonymous said...

CT General Statute Section 7-148ff.

Special assessment on blighted housing. (a) Any municipality that has regulations preventing housing blight under subparagraph (H)(xv) of subdivision (7) of subsection (c) of section 7-148 may, by ordinance adopted by its legislative body on recommendation of its board of finance or equivalent body, provide for a special assessment on housing that is blighted, as defined in such regulations.

(b) Prior to initial approval by the legislative body of such municipality of the plan for implementation of the special assessment to be provided pursuant to the provisions of this section, the executive authority of such municipality shall appoint a committee consisting of not less than six taxpayers of such municipality, one of whom shall be a landlord, the tax assessor and representatives of municipal agencies responsible for zoning and health, housing, fire and other safety code compliance. The committee shall undertake and complete, within a period not in excess of sixty days following such appointment, a study and investigation with respect to such special assessment and shall submit a report to the board of finance or equivalent body of such municipality. The report shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) A statement describing the fiscal effect of a special assessment on the revenue for the municipality; (2) identification of properties that may be subject to a special assessment; (3) the amount of property taxes generated by the properties and the cost to the municipality for code enforcement on such properties, including costs for police and fire personnel; (4) recommendations with respect to the form and extent of any assessment; and (5) standards for imposition of the assessment. In establishing any standards, the committee shall consider the number of outstanding health, housing and safety violations for the property, the number of times municipal health, housing and safety personnel have had to inspect the property and the cost to the municipality to enforce code compliance on the property. After the initial approval of the special assessment by the legislative body of such municipality, such plan may be amended from time to time by vote of its legislative body on recommendation of its board of finance or equivalent body without compliance with the requirements of this subsection applicable to such initial approval.

October 17, 2009 at 7:26 PM
Anonymous said...

Section 7-148ff. Special Assessment on Blighted Housing...

(c) Any ordinance adopted under subsection (a) of this section shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) Standards to determine if a special assessment should be imposed on a property, (2) the amount of the assessment, which shall be a reasonable amount and based on an analysis of the costs to the municipality code inspection and enforcement, including costs for police and fire personnel, (3) procedures for notice to the property owner of imposition of the special assessment, which shall include a time period to remedy the code noncompliance before the assessment is due and a process for appeal of an assessment, and (4) the appointment of a board consisting of the finance director, tax assessor and municipal code enforcement official to determine when the special assessment should be imposed on specific property.

Annually, the legislative body shall review the amount of any assessment to be imposed pursuant to an ordinance adopted under this section and may revise such amount.

(d) Any funds received by a municipality from a special assessment imposed pursuant to an ordinance adopted under subsection (c) of this section shall be deposited into a special fund or account maintained by the municipality which shall be dedicated for expenses of the municipality related to enforcement of ordinances regulating blight and state and local health, housing and safety codes and regulations, including expenses related to community police.

(e) Any unpaid special assessment imposed by a municipality pursuant to the provisions of an ordinance adopted under subsection (c) of this section shall constitute a lien upon the real estate against which the fine was imposed from the date of such fine.

Each such lien may be continued, recorded and released in the manner provided by the general statutes for continuing, recording and releasing property tax liens. Each such lien may be enforced in the same manner as property tax liens.

October 17, 2009 at 7:41 PM
Anonymous said...

Will Rep. Tim O’Brien’s state program of Property Tax Reform for New Britain seniors be torpedo by President Barack Obama’s proposed second round of $250 stimulus payments in 2010 for seniors, veterans and people with disabilities as a result of no Social Security cost-of-living adjustments (COLA) in year 2010?

The payments of $250 would match the ones issued to seniors earlier this year as part of the federal government’s economic recovery package.

The payments would be equal to about a 2 percent increase for the average Social Security recipient in 2010 and would exceed current income limits for some NB seniors under the CT state program of property tax relief.

October 18, 2009 at 1:18 AM
Anonymous said...

Sec. 7-148aa. Lien on real estate where fine for violation of blight ordinance is unpaid.

Any unpaid fine imposed by a municipality pursuant to the provisions of an ordinance regulating blight, adopted pursuant to subparagraph (H)(xv) of subdivision (7) of subsection (c) of section 7-148 shall constitute a lien upon the real estate against which the fine was imposed from the date of such fine.

Each such lien may be continued, recorded and released in the manner provided by the general statutes for continuing, recording and releasing property tax liens.

Each such lien shall take precedence over all other liens filed after July 1, 1997, and encumbrances except taxes and may be enforced in the same manner as property tax liens.

October 18, 2009 at 3:48 AM
Anonymous said...

NEW BRITAIN PROPERTY TAX RELIEF...

...Individual New Britain homeowners 65 or older in 2010 or who received Social Security disability benefits are eligible for a discount on their property taxes if their total income was less than $30,500 for single applicants or $37,300 for married couples.

If a married couple wishes to apply for Property Tax Relief, it is only necessary for one of the spouses to have been over 65 to be eligible for the program.

The NB Senior Center GOLDEN NOTES March 2010 publication will be listing appointment schedules for seniors applying for HOMEOWNERS Property Tax Relief programs.

October 18, 2009 at 1:16 PM
Anonymous said...

After viewing Connecticut General Statute 7-148ff posted on Frank Smith Blog, I agree with Mayor Stewart’s position that Statute 7-148ff is not revenue generator for the general City fund, but is limited to covering the costs of the police and fire and health code enforcement efforts on those City blighted properties and that all revenue acquired must be kept in a special account - plus Rep. O’Brien is also off-base on his verbal political statements regarding his interpretation of state Statute 7-148ff extending property tax relief to all NB homeowners.

October 18, 2009 at 5:15 PM

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