Rainbow Housing Corp. v. Cromwell

Citations

• 340 Conn. 501

Syllabus

Pursuant to statute (§ 12-81 (7) (A)), ''the real property of . . . a corporation organized exclusively for . . . charitable purposes . . . and used exclusively for carrying out . . . such purposes'' is exempt from taxation. Pursuant further to statute (§ 12-81 (7) (B)), ''housing subsidized, in whole or in part, by federal, state or local government . . . shall not constitute a charitable purpose . . . . '[H]ousing' shall not include real property used for temporary housing . . . the primary use of which property is . . . housing for . . . persons with a mental health disorder . . . .'' The plaintiffs, R Co. and G Co., tax-exempt charitable organizations, appealed to the trial court from the decision of the Board of Assessment Appeals of the defendant town. The board had denied the plaintiffs' appeal from the town assessor's allegedly improper denial of their appli- cation for a charitable property tax exemption under § 12-81 (7) (A), in connection with residential property that R Co. owns and leases to G Co. G Co. operates a ''supervised apartment program'' on the property. Through the program, G Co. provides housing to as many as five men at a time, all of whom are individuals with severe mental illness who are not able to function in a traditional group home setting. G Co. provides the residents with on-site supervision, as well as various psychi- atric, rehabilitative, and skill building services. Residents do not stay at the property for a fixed duration but, rather, remain only until their treatment has progressed to a point that they no longer need G Co.'s 502 DECEMBER, 2021 340 Conn. 501 Rainbow Housing Corp. v. Cromwell services. The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services pro- vides G Co. with approximately 75 percent of its funding for the program. The parties stipulated to the relevant facts and filed separate motions for summary judgment. The town claimed that the assessor properly found that, under § 12-81 (7) (B), the property was not tax-