NAUGATUCK — The property revaluation scheduled to start in August has been delayed a year.
The state requires municipalities to perform property revaluations every five years to assess the current market values of properties for tax purposes. Gov. Dannel Malloy signed legislation in early June that granted Naugatuck and other towns an extension.
Assessor Carol Ann Tyler, who started in January, said she requested the extension because the borough recently switched to a new software system to do the revaluation.
“We just implemented it five weeks ago,” Tyler said last week. “We need time in order to get staff used to it.”
If the borough had not received the extension, employees would have had to familiarize themselves with the program as they were doing the revaluation, she said.
“If we had to do it this year, we would have had to start in August. That is not enough time in my opinion to do a correct job,” Tyler said.
The revaluation is now expected to begin in August 2017 and wrap up by July 2018.
The last revaluation in Naugatuck took place during 2011 and 2012, which was the first revaluation since the nationwide economic crisis in 2008.
The end result of that revaluation was a 26 percent decrease in residential property values. The value of commercial property decreased on average by 2 percent.
The drop in property values led to a decrease in the net Oct. 1, 2012 grand list of 23 percent, or $468,752,727. The decrease in the grand list was the major catalyst for a more than 11-mill increase in the mill rate for the 2013-14 fiscal year to make up for the lost revenue.
In addition to becoming familiar with the new revaluation software, Tyler said, the extension will allow her office to ensure the revaluation is done correctly and equitable.
“We wanted to make sure all the properties are updated. The field inspector is out there every day, making sure all the information is right. A year more is going to give us that much more information,” Tyler said.
Tyler added, “If everything is equal, you won’t be paying for your neighbor’s pool that we don’t have assessed. If we have data correct it will become more equitable and much better for everyone.”
We’re being taxed in Naugatuck probably 20% too high right now. A reevaluation would drop our values this much. The clowns that run this town want the higher rate….postponing it a year lines their pockets one more year of inflated home prices. Good for them, bad for tax payers. Hess must think we’re dumb.