Sec. 12-170f. Applications for grants. Assessors' duties.

(a) Any renter, believing himself or herself to be entitled to a grant under section 12-170d for any calendar year, shall apply for such grant to the assessor of the municipality in which the renter resides or to the duly authorized agent of such assessor or municipality on or after April first and not later than October first of each year with respect to such grant for the calendar year preceding each such year, on a form prescribed and furnished by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management to the assessor. A renter may apply to the secretary prior to December fifteenth of the claim year for an extension of the application period. The secretary may grant such extension in the case of extenuating circumstance due to illness or incapacitation as evidenced by a certificate signed by a physician or an advanced practice registered nurse to that extent, or if the secretary determines there is good cause for doing so. A renter making such application shall present to such assessor or agent, in substantiation of the renter's application, a copy of the renter's federal income tax return, and if not required to file a federal income tax return, such other evidence of qualifying income, receipts for money received, or cancelled checks, or copies thereof, and any other evidence the assessor or such agent may require. When the assessor or agent is satisfied that the applying renter is entitled to a grant, such assessor or agent shall issue a certificate of grant in such form as the secretary may prescribe and supply showing the amount of the grant due.

(b) The assessor or agent shall forward the application to the secretary not later than the last day of the month following the month in which the renter has made application. Any municipality that neglects to transmit to the secretary the application as required by this section shall forfeit two hundred fifty dollars to the state, provided the secretary may waive such forfeiture in accordance with procedures and standards adopted by regulation in accordance with chapter 54. The certificate of grant shall be delivered to the renter and the assessor or agent shall keep the original copy of such certificate and application.

(c) After the secretary's review of each claim, pursuant to section 12-120b, and verification of the amount of the grant, the secretary shall make a determination of any per cent reduction to all claims that will be necessary to keep within available appropriations and, not later than October fifteenth of each year, prepare a list of certificates approved for payment, and shall thereafter supplement such list monthly. Such list and any supplements thereto shall be approved for payment by the secretary and shall be forwarded by the secretary to the Comptroller, along with a notice of any per cent reduction in claim amounts, and the Comptroller shall, not later than fifteen days following receipt of such list, draw an order on the Treasurer in favor of each person on such list and on supplements to such list in the amount of such person's claim, minus any per cent reduction noticed by the secretary pursuant to this subsection, and the Treasurer shall pay such amount to such person, not later than fifteen days following receipt of such order.

(d) If the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management determines a renter was overpaid for such grant, the amount of any subsequent grant paid to the renter under section 12-170d after such determination shall be reduced by the amount of overpayment until the overpayment has been recouped. Any claimant aggrieved by the results of the secretary's review or determination shall have the rights of appeal as set forth in section 12-120b. Applications filed under this section shall not be open for public inspection. Any person who, for the purpose of obtaining a grant under section 12-170d wilfully fails to disclose all matters related thereto or with intent to defraud makes false statement shall be fined not more than five hundred dollars.

(e) Any municipality may provide, upon approval by its legislative body, that the duties and responsibilities of the assessor, as required under this section and section 12-170g, shall be transferred to (1) the officer in such municipality having responsibility for the administration of social services, or (2) the coordinator or agent for the elderly in such municipality.

(P.A. 74-55, S. 10, 14; P.A. 77-614, S. 139, 610; P.A. 79-610, S. 3, 47; P.A. 80-391, S. 5, 6; P.A. 82-322, S. 4, 6; P.A. 85-561, S. 6, 8; P.A. 87-586, S. 5, 12; P.A. 88-321, S. 7, 10; P.A. 90-73, S. 4, 5; P.A. 93-129, S. 2, 7; May 25 Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-1, S. 16, 130; P.A. 95-307, S. 8, 14; P.A. 98-262, S. 20, 22; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-6, S. 52, 85; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9, S. 99, 131; P.A. 12-69, S. 1; 12-197, S. 28; P.A. 13-234, S. 39; P.A. 14-217, S. 50; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 16-3, S. 82; P.A. 17-222, S. 1; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2, S. 565; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-4, S. 25; P.A. 18-81, S. 34.)

History: P.A. 77-614 substituted commissioner of revenue services for tax commissioner, effective January 1, 1979; P.A. 79-610 substituted secretary of the office of policy and management for commissioner of revenue services, effective July 1, 1980; P.A. 80-391 changed application period dates from between April fifteenth and December thirty-first to between May fifteenth and December thirty-first in 1980 and between May fifteenth and September fifteenth in following years, effective May 29, 1980, and applicable in any town to assessment year commencing October 1, 1980, and each assessment year thereafter; P.A. 82-322 added Subsec. (b) to enable a municipality to transfer duties of assessor related to applications for grants by renters to the municipal officer responsible for social service administration or the municipal agent for the elderly; P.A. 85-561 provided that in cases of illness or incapacitation, evidenced by a physician's certificate, an applicant for benefits under the program for elderly renters may apply to the secretary of the office of policy and management for an extension of the application period beyond September fifteenth, provided application for such extension is made prior to December fifteenth of the claim year, effective July 5, 1985, and applicable to grants for renters paid in the calendar year 1986 and each calendar year thereafter; P.A. 87-586 inserted the provision for forfeiture by any municipality which fails to transmit the claim and supporting applications as required by this section; P.A. 88-321 amended Subsec. (a) to extend the time in 1988 to file applications for grant related to increases in qualifying income under Sec. 12-170e and added Subsec. (c) to clarify the state payment procedure for purposes of such grants, effective May 10, 1988, and applicable to grants for renters in calendar year 1988 and thereafter; P.A. 90-73 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting the provision concerning application for grants in 1988 related to increases in that year, adding the provision allowing waiver of municipal forfeiture for failure to submit applications for grant as required and extending to 60 days the period after receipt of applications for approval of grants; P.A. 93-129 amended Subsec. (a) to change the time for assessors to forward applications from 30 days after receipt to the last day of the month after the month in which the application was made, effective June 14, 1993; May 25 Sp. Sess. P.A. 94-1 amended Subsec. (a) by making technical change, effective July 1, 1994; P.A. 95-307 amended Subsec. (a) to eliminate requirement that the assessor maintain a permanent record of information regarding the grant, changed the deadline for preparation by the Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management to prepare a list of certificates approved from August thirty-one to September thirtieth and extended the time to file the list with Comptroller from 60 to 90 days after receipt of the applications, effective July 6, 1995; P.A. 98-262 amended Subsec. (a) to allow Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management to grant extensions for good cause, and allowed requests for 1997 claim year until August 1, 1998, effective June 8, 1998; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-6 amended Subsec. (a) to add provision re extension in the case of extenuating circumstance due to illness or incapacitation, to provide for appeal of decisions in accordance with Sec. 12-120b, to provide a penalty for failure to disclose related matters or false statement, to make technical changes and to delete obsolete provisions, amended Subsec. (b) to delete reference to Sec. 12-170g and deleted former Subsec. (c) re period between July 1, 1988, and December 1, 1988, effective July 1, 2001; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-9 reinstated language in Subsec. (b) which had been deleted by June Sp. Sess. P.A. 01-6, effective July 1, 2001; P.A. 12-69 amended Subsec. (a) by changing “May fifteenth” to “April first” and changing “September fifteenth” to “October first” re grant application; P.A. 12-197 amended Subsec. (a) by adding provision re certification by an advanced practice registered nurse and making a technical change; P.A. 13-234 amended Subsec. (a) by substituting “Commissioner of Housing” for “Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management”, substituting “commissioner” for “secretary”, changing time for forwarding list to Comptroller from 90 to 120 days after receipt of applications and replacing references to Sec. 12-120b with references to Sec. 12-170ee, effective July 1, 2013; P.A. 14-217 amended Subsec. (a) to replace references to Commissioner of Housing with references to Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, replace references to Sec. 12-170ee with references to Sec. 12-120b, add provision re renter overpaid for grant, add reference to claimant aggrieved by secretary's determination and make technical changes, effective June 13, 2014, and applicable to applications made on or after April 1, 2014; May Sp. Sess. P.A. 16-3 amended Subsec. (a) by adding provisions re secretary to make determination of per cent reduction to all claims that will be necessary to keep within available appropriations and re notice of same, effective July 1, 2016; P.A. 17-222 deleted provision re issuance of certificate of grant in triplicate, replaced “September thirtieth” with “October fifteenth” re preparation of list of certificates approved for payment, deleted provision re list and supplements to be forwarded by secretary to Comptroller not later than 120 days after receipt, and made conforming changes, effective July 1, 2017; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-2 amended Subsec. (a) by deleting reference to Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management re prescribing and furnishing form, replacing reference to secretary with reference to assessor or agent re person to whom renter applies for extension of application period, deleting provisions re assessor or agent to forward application to secretary, replacing “copies” with “the original copy” re certificate and application, deleting provisions re secretary's verification of amount of grant and determination of per cent reduction to claims, and list and supplement to be approved by secretary and forwarded to Comptroller along with notice or reduction in claim amounts and Comptroller to draw order on Treasurer, adding provision re municipality approval of payment not later than 120 days after certificates of grant issued by assessor or agent, and replacing “12-120b” with “12-170g”, and made technical and conforming changes, effective October 31, 2017; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 17-4 amended Subsec. (a) by adding reference to Secretary of the Office of Policy and Management re prescribing and furnishing form, replacing reference to assessor or agent with reference to secretary re person to whom renter applies for extension of application period, designated existing provisions re certificate of grant to be delivered to renter as new Subsec. (b) and amended same by adding provision re assessor or agent to forward application to secretary, designated existing provisions re list of certificates as Subsec. (c) and amended same by adding provision re secretary's verification of amount of grant and determination of per cent reduction to claims, deleting provision re municipality approval of payment not later than 120 days after certificates of grant are issued by assessor or agent, adding provision re list and supplement to be approved by secretary and forwarded to Comptroller along with notice or reduction in claim amounts and Comptroller to draw order on Treasurer, added Subsec. (d) re secretary to select grants of state financial assistance provided to municipality to withhold or reduce, designated existing provisions re determination renter was overpaid, applications open for public inspection and penalty for failure to disclose matters for purpose of obtaining grant as Subsec. (e) and amended same by replacing references to assessor or agent with references to secretary and replacing “12-170g” with “12-120b”, redesignated existing Subsec. (b) re transfer of duties and responsibilities of assessor as Subsec. (f), and made technical and conforming changes, effective November 21, 2017; P.A. 18-81 deleted Subsec. (d) re reductions in municipal financial assistance and redesignated existing Subsecs. (e) and (f) as Subsecs. (d) and (e), effective July 1, 2018.