Senate Passes Looney-Backed Homestead Property Tax Exemption Bill

HARTFORD — The Connecticut State Senate on Tuesday passed Senate Bill 447, legislation that Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney (D-New Haven) has championed as a necessary step toward correcting the deep structural inequities in Connecticut’s property tax system.

The bill, as amended, would create a local option to exempt the first $50,000 of assessed value of owner-occupied single-family homes from property tax, directing greater proportional relief to working families in modest homes.

Senator Looney testified in favor of the legislation before the Planning and Development Committee on March 11, citing data from the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy showing that Connecticut residents in the lowest 20% of income pay 7.3% of their income in property taxes, while those in the top 1% pay only 1.4%.

“Our income tax has grown more progressive over the decades, but the regressivity of our property tax system persists, and working families feel that burden every year,” Senator Looney said. “A homestead exemption gives every owner-occupant the same dollar benefit, but that relief means far more as a share of income and home value to a family in a modest home than to the owner of a million-dollar property. At a time when federal tariffs are raising the cost of everyday goods, when health insurance subsidies are being cut, and when the price of heating oil and gasoline have surged due to President Trump’s war in Iran, the Connecticut General Assembly must do what Washington will not and take concrete action to put fairness back into our tax system.”

Connecticut currently assesses property at 70% of market value, meaning that while the owner of a $1 million home receives a $300,000 exemption from taxable value by operation of the assessment ratio, the owner of a $300,000 home receives only a $90,000 exemption. Under SB 447, both homeowners would receive an additional $50,000 exemption, shifting the effective exemption rate for the owner of the more modest home from 30% to 46.7% of market value.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Hugh McQuaid | hugh.mcquaid@cga.ct.gov