Funny how on the one hand the BOE meeting was sparsely attended, while the assessors informational meeting was well attended. In many ways, the two meetings were about the same thing — how much taxes the City of Norwalk needs — just different ends of the process. From the Hour:
It was standing room only in the Community Room of the Norwalk Police headquarters Tuesday night as residents of Harbor View, Golden Hill and other South Norwalk neighborhoods sounded off over their preliminary property valuations stemming from the city’s 2008 revaluation.
Upward of 100 people attended the revaluation presentation — the first of several such neighborhood presentations scheduled by city Tax Assessor Michael J. Stewart and J.F. Ryan Associates, Inc., the firm hired by the city to assist with the revaluation.
Tuesday night’s presentation soon evolved into an at-times testy question-and-answer exchange.
Many Harbor View residents believe their preliminary valuations are too high — particularly in light of the economic recession that has hit the real-estate market hard.
“The economy is such that people are losing their jobs, and the real estate property has gone (down in value), and you’ve actually doubled my tax burden,” said Wes Small, a Harbor View resident. “I can never sell my house. People don’t have the money to buy the house. Don’t you look at the economic factors now?”
Marybeth Sullivan, another Harbor View resident, said, “Everyone is feeling (their valuation) is too high. We feel that it’s specifically the land costs.
“What could (the revaluation appraisers) be thinking?” Sullivan asked.
According to Harbor View residents, land values in their neighborhood increased uniformly by roughly 100 percent, despite differences in their properties.
City Director of Finance Thomas S. Hamilton, who at the beginning of the presentation stressed that “none of the values are final,” returned to that point later in the evening.
“I think we’re hearing the message that Harbor View is an area that the tax assessor and John Ryan should go back to and take another look at,” Hamilton said. “What he wants is evidence of what the actual market value is.”
The 2008 revaluation, required by state law, is intended to accurately establish values for real estate, motor vehicle and personal property as of Oct. 1, 2008.
“What the revaluation is trying to do is to get an accurate estimate of what the market value of every real estate (property) in the jurisdiction is of a certain date,” Stewart said.
The revaluation got under way in late 2007 with the Tax Assessor’s Office mailing out data mailers, asking property owners, for instance, how many bathrooms they have in their homes. The project proceeded with J.F. Ryan appraisers inspecting some but not all properties.
John Ryan, revaluation project manager, acknowledged that the real estate market has changed for
the worse since 2007. According to him, however, the evolving market has been taken into account.“We know we’re in a challenging market,” Ryan said. “Those issues were reflected in our valuation process. We were constantly adjusting the value influences.”
That doesn’t mean errors weren’t made, according to Ryan. He and Stewart have invited property owners who are dissatisfied with their preliminary valuation to use the appeal process.
In early December, Mayor Richard A. Moccia and other officials predicted that single-family homeowners will fare better than condominium and commercial property owners, based on preliminary numbers from the new revaluation.
Single-family homeowners whose property values rise less than 19.3 percent will see a decrease or no increase in their tax bill, as a result of the revaluation alone. Those whose property values rise more than 19.3 percent will see an increase, according to the finance department.
Seventy percent of single-family homeowners fall into the former category and will see no increase, based upon the revaluation alone. Thirty percent of homeowners fall into the latter group and will see an increase, according to the finance department.
Property owners have until Jan. 21 to schedule a hearing with J.F. Ryan Associates, using the 2008 Grand List Informal Valuation Appeal Applica-tion found on the reverse side of their preliminary valuation notices. To schedule a hearing, call (203) 854-4192.
source: The Hour, Norwalk homeowners decry valuations, By ROBERT KOCH 01/06/2009
There seems to be no leadership on tax policy in this city.
The trend from this latest reval is to shift the burden from stable middle class neighborhoods, where taxes have decreased, to low-income areas that are improving but are still very fragile communities. Those of us who have chosen to move into these fragile neighborhoods, where a strong middle class and owner-occupied presence is needed to balance the slumlord over-occupied and often decrepit housing, are now being penalized by the city for our risk-taking urban pioneering. It is unfair, and it is the beginning of a middle-class flight from these borderline neighborhoods just at a time when these communities need that stability. We have worked hard to reduce crime, remove abandoned vehicles, clean our streets, report zoning violations, help our neighbors in need, and overall improve the quality of life for everyone regardless of income and race.
Yet our properties, which are worth less than similar properties in more stable areas, are being valued as if the location is not important.
And lets not even get started on the late letters that came out 3 days before Christams. It all smacks of deceit and betrayal by a city agency that we entrust to be fair.
Shame on the Common Council and the Mayor for not speaking up about this.
This reval is a disaster. Half the houses on my street have gone down in assessed value, and the other half have gone up by 40-50%. Some of the houses that went down had improvements, and some of the ones that went up had no improvements at all. The answers you get from the staff are all over the place, and the consultants the city hired seem to be frustrated by the city staff getting in the way of the reval procedure.
There needs to be an investigation, and legal action. Something smells funny down at city hall.
We were told by old timers in town that the hearings are useless and the city never lowers the assessment no matter how much evidence you give them. Is this a big waste of time?
Why doesn’t the city just postpone the revaluation until next year? it will cost more, and the state law says it has to be done, but the state law says it has to be based on fair market value which the City Assessor admits is impossible to establish this year. Drastic times call for drastic measures. Please don’t screw half the city with a flawed reval. It’s just not fair, and Duff could surely argue in Hartford for an exemption for Norwalk because of the bad timing.
They can certainly postpone the reval; didn’t Esposito postpone it for nearly 10 years? If he can do it, so can Moccia.
On the assesor’s website they claim your taxes will go down if your assesment went up less than 19%. Most on my street went up about 11% with the big increase being land value.