Hartford committee reviews proposed updates to local elderly tax credit; public hearing set

The Operations Management Budget and Government Accountability Committee of the Hartford Common Council heard a presentation on Feb. 18 from City Tax Assessor John Phillips about a proposed amendment to Section 32-18 of the Hartford Municipal Code that would update income limits for the local option elderly tax credit. A public hearing on the amendment was scheduled to begin immediately after the committee meeting; the committee did not vote on the ordinance.

The amendment would raise the gross income eligibility limit for a single filer from $66,160 to $68,240 and for a married couple from $75,600 to $78,000, Phillips said. "This is an annual thing," Phillips told the committee, describing the town's practice of updating the ordinance so income thresholds track HUD low‑income limits set in December each year.

Phillips reviewed the credit's recent history: the benefit was a flat $500 from about 1982 through 2020; council raised the credit to $750 in 2021 and to $1,000 per person for the 2022 and 2023 grand list years, a level recommended to continue for the 2024 grand list year. Participation rose from about 668 applicants to 705 applicants between the most recent grand‑list years cited by the assessor. Phillips said those participation levels corresponded with revenue impacts that he described as "$603,000 coming out of revenue in 2020 for the 2022 list" and about "$651,000 this fiscal year." The assessor said final credit amounts are not finalized until a mill rate is set.

Committee members pressed staff on outreach and program awareness. The assessor said the application window is February 15 through May 15 and that the assessor's office keeps a running list of interested applicants and sends reminder letters. Phillips said the office plans outreach, including a visit to the North End Senior Center, and that previous attempts to match deeds to state motor vehicle records to identify potentially eligible homeowners produced little additional enrollment. Council members noted the assessor's webpages were not up to date; one councilmember said the tax assessor's department homepage did not mention the program and the application materials still showed 2023 information. Phillips acknowledged that the online materials need updating.

Because the item had a public hearing scheduled later the same evening, committee members did not take a vote on the ordinance amendment at the Feb. 18 committee meeting. The public hearing record and any comments will be part of the council's subsequent consideration.

The discussion touched on program scope: the local option credit applies to qualifying elderly homeowners (it differs from rental rebate programs), and eligibility requires home ownership. Phillips said many eligible homeowners live in two‑ or three‑family properties and that those households are represented among recent applicants. He also said the assessor's office does not record age information on deeds and that precise counts of potentially eligible households are not readily available.

Next steps: the public hearing held after the committee meeting will provide public comment that the Common Council will consider before any vote on the ordinance amendment.