Municipal option to abate or exempt a portion of property taxes of local firefighters and certain emergency and civil preparedness personnel

The legislative body of any municipality may establish, by ordinance, a program to provide property tax relief for a nonsalaried local emergency management director, any individual who volunteers his or her services as a firefighter, fire police officer, as defined in subsection (a) of section 7-308, emergency medical technician, paramedic, civil preparedness staff, active member of a volunteer canine search and rescue team, as defined in section 5-249, active member of a volunteer underwater search and rescue team, or ambulance driver in the municipality, or any individual who is a retired volunteer firefighter, fire police officer or emergency medical technician and has completed at least twenty-five years of service as a volunteer firefighter, fire police officer or emergency medical technician in the municipality. Such tax relief may provide either (1) an abatement of up to two thousand dollars in property taxes due for any fiscal year, or (2) an exemption applicable to the assessed value of real or personal property up to an amount equal to the quotient of two million dollars divided by the mill rate, in effect at the time of assessment, expressed as a whole number of dollars per one thousand dollars of assessed value. Any ordinance may authorize interlocal agreements for the purpose of providing property tax relief to such volunteers who live in one municipality but volunteer or volunteered their services in another municipality. (P.A. 99-272, S. 6, 7; P.A. 00-120, S. 10, 13; P.A. 01-187, S. 21, 25; P.A. 04-241, S. 2; P.A. 11-21, S. 3; 11-243, S. 2; P.A. 16-99, S. 1; P.A. 19-36, S. 1; P.A. 21-83, S. 1.) History: P.A. 99-272 effective June 15, 1999, and applicable to assessment years commencing on or after October 1, 1999; P.A. 00-120 made nonsalaried local directors of civil preparedness eligible and authorized municipalities to establish a property tax exemption in lieu of an abatement, effective May 26, 2000, and applicable to assessment years commencing October 1, 1999; P.A. 01-187 provided for tax relief for civil preparedness staff volunteers, effective October 1, 2001, and applicable to assessment years commencing on and after October 1, 2001; P.A. 04-241 provided for tax relief for active members of volunteer canine search and rescue teams; P.A. 11-21 replaced “local director of civil preparedness” with “local emergency management director” and made a technical change; P.A. 11-243 provided for tax relief for fire police officers and active members of volunteer underwater search and rescue teams and made a technical change, effective July 1, 2011; P.A. 16-99 added references to retired volunteer firefighters, fire police officers and emergency medical technicians and made technical and conforming changes, effective July 1, 2016; P.A. 19-36 amended Subdiv.