Disability Programs

Exemption for the Blind

A $3,000 assessment exemption is available. A Certification of Legal Blindness must be submitted to the Assessor's Office before January 31.

Modified Vehicle Exemption

Section 12-81c. Municipal Option to Exempt Certain Motor Vehicles

The legislative body of any municipality may, by ordinance, exempt from personal property taxation (1) any ambulance-type motor vehicle which is used exclusively for the purpose of transporting any medically incapacitated individual, except any such vehicle used to transport any such individual for profit, (2) any property owned by a nonprofit ambulance company, and (3) any motor vehicle owned by a person with disabilities, or owned by the parent or guardian of such person, which vehicle is equipped for purposes of adapting its use to the disability of such person, provided the legislative body of the municipality adopts a definition of such vehicle.

Obtaining An Exemption

In order to receive this exemption, an application (PDF) for exemption must be completed and signed by the assessor. This application can be found in our office, online, or can be mailed to you per your request. The form must be requested and filed with our office every year. In order to fill out the form you will need the vehicle make, model, identification number, and marker number.

In addition to the application you will need a number of, if not all of, the following:

A copy of the current motor vehicle registration
Invoices for equipment and installation
Photographs of modifications

Our office must receive all requirements on or before December 31 of the calendar year in which the relevant assessment date occurs. For example an exemption for the 2017 Grand List must be filed on or before December 31, 2018.

Elderly / Totally Disabled Tax Relief

You may qualify for the relief if:

You are married and your income is not above $49,100
You are single and your income is not above $40,300

All income, including social security, must be documented. The filing period is February 1 to May 15. You must be 65 years of age or older by December 31 preceding the year of application or 100% documented disability by December 31 preceding the year of application.

Important Information from the Social Security Administration - Changes In Certain Services (PDF)

Local Tax Deferral/Alternative Program

To qualify for the program, you must be part of the Elderly or Totally Disabled Tax Relief Program. If you file an application to defer the taxes, upon approval a lien shall be placed against the property and you receive a credit equal to what you received from the Elderly and Totally Disabled Tax Relief Program and is interest free. If you file an application to receive a credit, upon approval you will receive credit equal to one half of the credit you received from the State's Elderly and Totally Disabled Tax Relief Program. The program's filing period is from February 1 to May 15, biannually.

Disabled Veteran

You may qualify for this exemption if:

You are married and your income is not above $49,100, unless you are 100% disabled by Veterans' Affairs (VA)
You are single and your income is not above $40,300, unless you are 100% disabled by VA

All income, including social security, must be documented. The filing period is February 1 to September 30. Service connected disability must be documented to the assessor annually until the veteran is 65.

If you are determined to be 100% disabled by the VA, the qualifications are:

You are married and your income is not above $21,000
You are single and your income is not above $18,000

Social Security Disability Exemption

Sec. 12-81i. Municipal option to provide additional exemption for persons totally disabled and eligible for exemption under section 12-81. (a) Any municipality, upon approval by its legislative body, may provide that any person entitled to the exemption from property tax applicable to the assessed value of property up to the amount of one thousand dollars, as provided under subdivision (55) of section 12-81, shall be entitled to an additional exemption from such tax in an amount up to one thousand dollars of such assessed value, provided such person's qualifying income does not exceed the applicable maximum amount as provided under section 12-81.

(b) Any person submitting a claim for the additional exemption as provided under subsection (a) of this section shall be required to file an application, on a form prepared for such purpose by the assessor, not later than the date of the assessment list with respect to which such additional exemption is claimed. Each such application shall include a copy of such person's federal income tax return, or in the event a return is not filed, such evidence related to income as may be required by the assessor for the tax year of such person ending immediately prior to the approval of a claim for such additional exemption

Assessment Information

An assessment exemption of $1,000 is available. The assessor must receive a letter, by January 31, from the State of Connecticut Department of Social Security documenting the disability. An application (PDF) for exemption must be completed and submitted to the Assessor's Office before January 31.

For more information please refer to this brochure. Totally Disabled and Blind Brochure

Applications for any and all programs are available in the Assessor's Office.