Connecticut HB 5498: AN ACT CONCERNING REVISIONS TO STATUTES RELATING TO MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION.

Bill Text

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General Assembly  
Substitute Bill No. 5498  
February Session, 2026 
 
 
 
 
 
AN ACT CONCERNING REVISIONS TO STATUTES RELATING TO 
MUNICIPAL TAX COLLECTION.  
Be  it  enacted  by  the  Senate  and  House  of Representatives  in  General 
Assembly convened: 
 
Section  1.  Section  12-123  of  the  general  statutes  is  repealed  and  the 1 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 2 
When  any  town  has  failed,  prior  to  June  fifteenth, to  lay  necessary 3 
taxes  or  to  lay  a  tax  which,  in  addition  to  the  other  estimated  yearly 4 
income  of  the  town,  is  sufficient  to  pay  the  current  expenses  of  such 5 
town, its selectmen shall make a rate bill upon its list last completed for 6 
the amount necessary, or for an amount sufficient to pay the deficit in 7 
such current expenses, and cause the same to be collected as other taxes. 8 
Sec.  2.  Section  12-124  of  the  general statutes  is  repealed  and  the 9 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 10 
The  selectmen  of  towns,  the  mayor  and  aldermen  of  cities,  the 11 
warden  and   burgesses  of  boroughs  and   the  committees  of  other 12 
communities (1) may abate the taxes, or the interest on delinquent taxes, 13 
or both, assessed by their respective communities upon such persons as 14 
are  poor  and  unable  to  pay  the  same  or  upon  railroad  companies  in 15 
bankruptcy  reorganization,  provided [either] a  standing  abatement 16 
committee of a community [or, if a community has no such committee, 17 

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the  Secretary  of  the  Office  of  Policy  and  Management] shall  approve 18 
such  abatement,  and  (2)  shall  present  to  each  annual  meeting  of  their 19 
respective communities a list of all persons whose taxes, or the interest 20 
on whose taxes, they have abated in the preceding year. 21 
Sec.  3.  Subsection  (a)  of  section  12-130  of  the  general  statutes  is 22 
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 23 
1, 2026): 24 
(a) When any community, authorized to raise money by taxation, lays 25 
a tax, it shall appoint a collector thereof; and the selectmen of towns, and 26 
the  committees  of  other  communities,  except  as  otherwise  specially 27 
provided  by  law,  shall  make  out  and  sign  rate  bills  containing  the 28 
proportion which each individual is to pay according to the assessment 29 
list; and any judge of the Superior Court or any justice of the peace, on 30 
their application or that of their successors in office, shall issue a warrant 31 
for the collection of any sums due on such rate bills. Each collector shall 32 
mail or hand to each individual from whom taxes are due a bill for the 33 
amount  of  taxes  for  which  such  individual  is  liable.  In  addition,  the 34 
collector shall include with such bill, using one of the following methods 35 
(1) attachment, (2) enclosure, or (3) printed matter upon the face of the 36 
bill, a statement of: 37 
(A) State aid to municipalities which shall be in the following form: 38 
"The  (fiscal  year)  budget  for  the  (city  or  town)  estimates  that  .... 39 
Dollars will be received from the state of Connecticut for various state 40 
financed programs. Without this assistance your (fiscal year) property 41 
tax  would  be  (herein  insert  the  amount  computed  in  accordance  with 42 
subsection (b) of this section) mills"; and 43 
(B) State aid reduction to municipalities that overspend, which shall 44 
be in the following form: 45 
"The state will reduce grants to your town if local spending increases 46 
from  the  previous  fiscal  year by [more  than] 2.5  per  cent [from  the 47 
previous  fiscal  year] or  more,  or  the  rate  of  inflation,  whichever  is 48 

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greater." 49 
Failure  to  send  out  or  receive  any  such  bill  or  statement  shall  not 50 
invalidate  the  tax.  For  purposes  of  this  subsection,  "mail"  includes  to 51 
send  by  electronic  mail,  provided  an  individual  from  whom  taxes  are 52 
due  consents  in  writing  to  receive  a  bill  and  statement  electronically. 53 
Prior  to  sending  any  such  bill  or  statement  by  electronic  mail,  a 54 
community shall provide the public with the appropriate electronic mail 55 
address  of  the  community  on  the  community's  Internet  web  site  and 56 
shall  establish  procedures  to  ensure  that  any  individual  who  consents 57 
to  receive  a  bill  or  statement  electronically  (i)  receives  such  bill  or 58 
statement, and (ii) is provided the proper return electronic mail address 59 
of the community sending the bill or statement. 60 
Sec.  4.  Section  12-130a  of  the  general  statutes  is  repealed  and  the 61 
following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2026): 62 
(a)