House Approves First-Time Homebuyer Property Tax Abatement

State House lawmakers unanimously approved legislation May 30 authorizing municipalities to provide a $500 annual property tax abatement to first-time home buyers.

The tax abatement is available to buyers who purchase their home with a Connecticut Housing Financing Authority loan.

HB 6558 is one of a number of bills designed to address Connecticut’s housing shortage, one of a number of factors driving the state’s workforce crisis.

CBIA’s Pete Myers told the legislature’s Planning and Development Committee earlier this year that HB 6558 was “a creative solution that would help to create more affordable housing options for workers in our state.

“We need to keep workers in the state and we need to bring in out-of-state workers.”

CBIA’s Pete Myers

“One of the major issues Connecticut businesses are facing is the lack of affordable housing options,” he said.

“To fill the state’s 104,000 job openings, we need to keep workers in the state and we need to bring in out-of-state workers.”

This bill is also supported by other major organizations, including the Connecticut Council of Small Towns, the Connecticut Realtors Association, and the Home Builders & Remodelers Association of Connecticut.

HB 6558 was co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 14 House members, including Planning Committee co-chair Eleni Kavros DeGraw (D-Avon) and ranking member Joe Zullo (R-East Haven).

The bill now awaits action in the state Senate.

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 For more information, contact CBIA’s Pete Myers (860.244.1921).