Last month, Weston residents received a “Revaluation Notice of Assessment Changes.”
While their 2024 mill rate has yet to be established, increased values have raised concerns about property taxes.
Westport will conduct a revaluation next year.
Our friends at KMS Team at Compass provide this information on the revaluation process:
Under Connecticut law, towns must revalue real property every 5 years. A revaluation is revenue neutral. The goal is to fairly value all property to ensure an equitable distribution of the tax burden, the town’s expenditures. Typically, a third-party company is hired to assess all properties in a town.
While assessment appeals are most common in years of town-wide revaluation (every 5 years), each town allows for annual appeals.
The process begins with an assessing officer reviewing your property record card, then viewing your property from the street and/or by interior inspection.
Every homeowner should be familiar with their property record, as inaccuracies can distort valuations. Click here for Westport; click here here for Weston.
The data collected in this phase is then compared to data on homes sold during what is known as the base year.
The base year is 12 months preceding the date of revaluation. The base year for Weston October 1, 2023 revaluation is October 1, 2022 to September 30, 2023. While sales before or after the end of the base period may be considered, they are often given secondary weight.
This 10,061-square foot home on 0.83 acres, at 2 Hidden Hill Road near Compo Beach, has 7 bedrooms and 8 1/2 bathrooms. It sold this month for $5,750,000. (Drone photo/Laurence Merz)
Using this data, a fair market value is determined. While timing varies, homeowners are typically informed of this value before year-end. This value is just one piece of calculating your property tax. Mill rates are the second. Mill rates are set in accordance with the town’s budget, and are generally released in June. To learn more about mill rates, click here.
Per state statute, property owners have the right to petition the Board of Assessment Appeals for a change in fair market value. Applications are available from February 1 to February 20. This year, all applications must be submitted to the Assessor’s Office no later than February 20, 2024. No faxes, emails or postmarks will be accepted.
Any evidence such as photographs, surveys or appraisals can help the Board of Assessment Appeals reach a fair decision. Don’t focus on increases from prior years (tax or valuation) as all properties have likely increased (though not uniformly).
Don’t assume previously submitted information will be reviewed for this appeal. Resubmit if relevant and important for your current appeal.
All appeals must be supported by market data. You can gather this from the Assessor’s Online Database (click on Sales Search to find sales within the base period that are similar to your property), or from other real estate website searches. Real estate agents can also help.
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