SB 447 — AN ACT ESTABLISHING A HOMESTEAD PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION.

Senate General Assembly FileSubstitute Bill No.

231447 February Session, 2026 SubstituteAN SenateACT BillESTABLISHING No.A HOMESTEAD PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION.

447 Senate, March 30, 2026 The Committee on Planning and Development reported through SEN.

RAHMAN of the 4th Dist., Chairperson of the Committee on the part of the Senate, that the substitute bill ought to pass.

AN ACT ESTABLISHING A HOMESTEAD PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION.

(B) Any owner or owners of a dwelling, or person or persons for whom such dwelling is held in trust, claiming the exemption provided in this subdivision for any assessment year shall, on or before the first day of November in such assessment year, file with the assessor or sSB447board /of Fileassessors No.in the municipality in which such dwelling is located an application claiming such exemption.

231Such application shall be made in the manner prescribed and on a form prepared for such purpose by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, and shall include, but not be limited to, a declaration that (i) such dwelling is the primary residence of the applicant or applicants, (ii) the applicant or applicants LCO 1 sSB447of File2 Substitute Bill No.

231447 boardhave ofno assessorsother inprimary residence, and (iii) the municipalityapplicant or applicants have not claimed the exemption provided in whichthis subdivision for more than one such dwelling isin locatedthe ansame applicationassessment claimingyear, and any documentation the secretary deems necessary to verify such exemption.declaration.

Such application shall be made in the manner prescribed and on a form prepared for such purpose by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, and shall include, but not be limited to, a declaration that (i) such dwelling is the primary residence of the applicant or applicants, (ii) the applicant or applicants have no other primary residence, and (iii) the applicant or applicants have not claimed the exemption provided in this subdivision for more than one such dwelling in the same assessment year, and any documentation the secretary deems necessary to verify such declaration.

sSB447FIN /Joint FileFavorable No.LCO 2 of 2

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231 The following Fiscal Impact Statement and Bill Analysis are prepared for the benefit of the members of the General Assembly, solely for purposes of information, summarization and explanation and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose.

In general, fiscal impacts are based upon a variety of informational sources, including the analyst’s professional knowledge.

Whenever applicable, agency data is consulted as part of the analysis, however final products do not necessarily reflect an assessment from any specific department.

OFA Fiscal Note State Impact:

None Municipal Impact:

Municipalities Effect FY 27 $ FY 28 $ New Milford Grand List None See Below Expansion All Municipalities Grand List None See Below Reduction Explanation The bill requires municipalities to exempt $50,000 of assessed value on primary residences that meet certain requirements.

This results in a grand list reduction to municipalities beginning in FY 28 that is dependent on the number of qualifying residences.

1,2 The bill simultaneously repeals a current optional property tax exemption that allows municipalities to exempt between 5% and 35% of a primary residence that meetscertainrequirements.New Milfordisthe only municipality that has implemented this optional exemption at 10% which resulted in a grand list reduction of approximately $183,070,000.

This provision would increase the New Milford grand list by this same If all owner-occupied housing units were to receive this exemption, the cumulative statewide impact would be approximately $52,723,567,500 of taxable property.

It is expected the actual impact would be lower.

A grand list reduction results in a revenue loss given a constant mill rate.

It is expected a municipality would increase its mill rate to offset any potential revenue loss.

For reference a $50,000 exemption results in a revenue loss of $1,500 given a mill rate of 30.

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231 amount beginning in FY 28.

3 The bill also places various requirements on the Office of Policy and Management which do not result in a fiscal impact.

The Out Years The annualized ongoing fiscal impact identified above would continue into the future subject to the number of qualifying properties and if other municipalities would have implemented the existing optional property tax exemption.

3New Milford would see a net decrease of approximately $98,800,000 in its grand list if the new exemption was enacted and the existing exemption was simultaneously repealed.

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231 OLR Bill Analysis sSB 447 AN ACT ESTABLISHING A HOMESTEAD PROPERTY TAX EXEMPTION.

This bill creates a new partial property tax exemption for certain primary residences.

It requires municipalities to reduce, by $50,000, the assessed (taxable) value of these single-family homes, common interest community units, andcondominiumsthat areownedby, or heldintrust for, one or more eligible taxpayers.

To be eligible for this exemption, taxpayers must annually file a form with their assessors declaring that (1) the dwelling is their primary residence, (2) they have no other primary residence, and (3) they have not claimed the exemption for any other residence that year.

Taxpayers who do not filethisformby November 1are ineligiblefor theexemption that assessment year.

The bill requires the Office of Policy and Management (OPM) to create the form and post it on its website.

It allows OPM to require any documents needed to verify information in taxpayers’ declaration forms.

Relatedly, the bill eliminates a similar exemption in existing law that municipalities may, but are not required to, provide for certain owner- occupied primary residences.