The Connecticut Office of Legislative Research has stated that municipalities cannot require business tenants to pay a previous tenants”™ delinquent property taxes under current state law.
The Office of Legislative Research (OLR) exists to help members of the Connecticut General Assembly in background research as they prepare to craft or vote on bills. OLR does not reveal the identities of state representatives or senators who pose questions.
John Rappa, chief analyst for OLR, said property tax assessment statutes specify how and when municipalities must assess real and personal property for taxation. In doing so, they specify a taxpayer”™s liability for personal property, he said.
Taxpayers must list the property they own for taxation in a declaration and submit it to the municipality where the property is located each Nov. 1. Failure to do so can result in penalties.
Municipalities assess that property and all other taxable real and personal property at 70 percent of its fair market value as of the Oct. 1 annual assessment date for all taxable real and personal property that precedes the Nov. 1 declaration.
Taxpayers may also be liable for taxes on property they did not list in the declarations if assessors believe it belongs to them, and assessors can add property to a declaration they believe the taxpayer owns but did not include in the declaration.
If a taxpayer fails to submit a declaration, Rappa said, the law allows an assessor to fill one out, listing the property he or she believes the taxpayer owns.
Taxpayers can appeal assessor decisions to the municipality”™s board of assessment appeals by the following February. Municipalities do not have to hold an appeals session on property valued at more than $1 million, with taxpayers allowed to take their case to Connecticut Superior Court.
