Sec. 12-129. Refund of excess payments.
Sec. 12-129. Refund of excess payments. Any person, firm or corporation who
pays any property tax in excess of the principal of such tax as entered in the rate book
of the tax collector and covered by his warrant therein, or in excess of the legal interest,
penalty or fees pertaining to such tax, or who pays a tax from which the payor is by
statute exempt and entitled to an abatement, or who, by reason of a clerical error on the
part of the assessor or board of assessment appeals, pays a tax in excess of that which
should have been assessed against his property, or who is entitled to a refund because
of the issuance of a certificate of correction, may make application in writing to the
collector of taxes for the refund of such amount. Such application shall be made not
later than (1) three years from the date such tax was due or (2) such extended deadline
as the municipality may, by ordinance, establish. Such application shall contain a recital
of the facts and shall state the amount of the refund requested. The collector shall, after
examination of such application, refer the same, with his recommendations thereon, to
the board of selectmen in a town or to the corresponding authority in any other municipality, and shall certify to the amount of refund, if any, to which the applicant is entitled.
Upon receipt of such application and certification, the selectmen or such other authority
shall draw an order upon the treasurer in favor of such applicant for the amount of refund
so certified. Any action taken by such selectmen or such other authority shall be a matter
of record, and the tax collector shall be notified in writing of such action. Upon receipt
of notice of such action, the collector shall make in his rate book a notation which will
date, describe and identify each such transaction. Each tax collector shall, at the end of
each fiscal year, prepare a statement showing the amount of each such refund, to whom
made and the reason therefor. Such statement shall be published in the annual report of
the municipality or filed in the town clerk's office within sixty days of the end of the
fiscal year. Nothing in this section shall be construed to allow a refund based upon an
error of judgment by the assessors. Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, the
legislative body of a municipality may, by ordinance, authorize the tax collector to retain
payments in excess of the amount due provided the amount of the excess payment is
less than five dollars.
(1949 Rev., S. 1812; 1957, P.A. 194; 1961, P.A. 102; 484, S. 1; P.A. 75-110, S. 2; P.A. 90-101, S. 2; P.A. 95-283, S.
10, 68; P.A. 99-151, S. 2, 3.)
History: 1961 acts added reference to the certificate of correction, and provided for filing of annual statement of refunds
in town clerk's office; P.A. 75-110 allowed six years, rather than one year, from date of payment for filing application for
refund; P.A. 90-101 required that application for refund of tax paid in excess of the amount due as a result of clerical error
must be submitted not later than three years from the tax due date and deleted the provision related to refunds as to which
the procedure has, prior to October 1, 1943, been determined by statute; P.A. 95-283 replaced board of tax review with
board of assessment appeals and allowed a municipality to retain overpayments of less than $5, effective July 6, 1995;
P.A. 99-151 allowed municipalities to adopt ordinances to extend the time to file an application for a refund of excess
property tax payments, effective June 23, 1999.
Cited. 195 C. 587.
Cited. 33 CA 270.