Politics & Government

How the 2011 Revaluation Will Affect Your Local Tax Bill

The town's assessor is in the process of developing new property values to be issued in October.

Town Assessor Joseph Dakers Sr. has a large map in the conference room adjacent to his office. The map delineates every neighborhood in West Hartford, along with conditions that might affect property values, such as being close to a busy road.

As Dakers delves into the work required to reassess property values in 2011 — which the state requires every five years — he considers how the edges of those neighborhoods might change, among myriad other factors that go into setting a value for each of the 22,351 real estate parcels in town. Of those parcels, 86 percent are residential.

So what can town property owners expect of this revaluation, which comes after a national upheaval in the real estate market, and how will it affect their local taxes? The answer lies in the computer models, estimates and calculations that take place in Dakers' office.

Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

For property owners, the process started last year when the town sent out mailers requesting the confirmation of data, including a description of the property with details such as the number of bathrooms and bedrooms, among other things.

"Most people are honest," Dakers said. "Very few have been dishonest."

Find out what's happening in West Hartfordwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In addition to the data sent in to the assessor's office, Dakers has three residential appraisers and one commercial appraiser who contribute to the computer models based on their work.

"This is not the conventional revaluation where there's a battalion of listers," Dakers said. "When the law changed in 2006, that gave assessors the ability to use other methods as well."

That doesn't mean, though, that the model is based solely on self-reported data. The assessor's office uses data from building permit inspections, commercial property inspections, and mines the Multiple Listing Service for property sales so that it can determine the desirability of each neighborhood, which can change from one revaluation cycle to the next.

The staff also verifies sales information and checks photos. If, for example, a homeowner installs granite countertops but doesn't pull a building permit for the job, that upgrade may be detected through online sales information.

"I can assure you, whenever you're selling your property, you want to make sure you put your best face forward," Dakers said. "Our sales verification program is extremely aggressive, and it's vital to the revaluation cycle."

After determining land and building values, adjusting for the shifting of interest in certain neighborhoods, and creating new depreciation schedules, the assessor's office will build a model and begin generating property values. Those values will be delivered to property owners in October and used to figure out the tax bill issued in June 2012.

Dakers said residents might be surprised — given the state of the real estate market nationally — that their property values have held up, with the exception of the high end of the market.

"We look at our local sales activity, and there are a lot of neighborhoods in town where sales prices are eclipsing values in 2006," Dakers said. "Regionally and nationally, there's a large message that things are going south."

Million-dollar-plus properties, though, are "not moving," Dakers said, and may see "some depression."

After property owners receive their new assessments in October, the town will schedule hearings for those who want to dispute their new values. If, after the hearing, the property owner still disagrees with the value, he or she can petition to go before the Board of Assessment Appeals.

The new property values will be included in the grand list issued by Jan. 31, 2012. The town, of course, could make adjustments to the tax rate based on the new property values, so taxes could remain stable for some homeowners, increase for some, and go down for others.

"Everything we do here is regulated by Connecticut tax statutes," Dakers said. "The only thing we have control of is the mill rate."

For more information on the revaluation process, click here for the town Web site page for frequently asked questions.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here