New London — A bill advancing in the General Assembly that would tax future property acquisitions of private, nonprofit hospitals and colleges would have a negative effect on Lawrence + Memorial Hospital’s ability to expand services in the community, Bill Stanley, L+M’s vice president of development and community relations, said Wednesday.

The bill, which passed the state House of Representatives on an 82-60 vote Friday, now heads to the Senate. It would end a portion of the municipal property tax exemption on hospitals and colleges, making properties acquired after Oct. 1 subject to property taxes. Properties owned before that would maintain their tax-exempt status.

The bill is a revised version of the measure originally proposed by House Speaker J. Brendan Sharkey, D-Hamden, that would have ended the property tax exemption for hospitals and colleges on all property off their main campuses.

The new version, Stanley said, is “not as distasteful” as the original, but would still be harmful, he said.

“It would give us pause in considering acquisitions that would make health care more accessible in the community,” he said.

L+M, he said, has no immediate plans for expansion, but “expansion is always under consideration.”

If passed, the bill would mean that new medical equipment purchased for satellite facilities would be taxed.

“So if we were going to buy a new multimillion-dollar linear accelerator, which is a vital piece of technology for our cancer center (in Waterford), we would have to pay property taxes on it,” Stanley said. “I’m not saying we’re not going to buy it, but it would be more expensive and it would take us longer.”

Stanley said he is lobbying state senators to oppose the bill in favor of another tax reform measure that would change the way car taxes are assessed by municipalities.

j.benson@theday.com

Twitter: @BensonJudy