There Has To Be A Better Way

To the Editor:

Many homeowners in Newtown are going to be very unhappy when they receive their new tax bills soon. The increase in the budget along with the impact of the recent revaluation has raised real estate taxes substantially for a large number of property owners. I happen to be one of them. My assessed valuation is 72 percent higher than lest year, increasing my taxes more than 20 percent.

It is very disturbing to find that your taxes are going up so much and so soon. However, it is even more distressing to realize that there is not much you can do about it. The system is designed to allow the town to raise the taxes on your property, even disproportionately to similar properties, and tell you to live with it or move.

I received my notice of the new valuation and made my “appeal” to the valuation company, which was nothing more than one of their representatives asking me what I thought the assessed value should be. He wrote this on a piece of paper, bid me “good day, and thanks for coming” and told me I would be notified of any change. This is an appeal?

When their letter came advising me that my appeal was denied, I decided to take my case to the Board of Assessment Appeals. Here at least, they gave me ten minutes to present my argument and submit supporting documentation. Weeks later I received their letter stating my “request for reduction is not warranted.” In a telephone conversation with the chairman of the Board of Assessment Appeals, I was told that due to the revaluation, they were inundated with appeals and they did the best they could to examine each one within the limited time they had. It was suggested that if I still felt aggrieved, I could appeal to the Superior Court of the Judicial District of Danbury. A statement to this effect was also included in their written notification.

This is where the system works against you. In order to appeal a tax assessment case in the courts, you have to be prepared to spend a minimum of $4,000–$5,000. This would include attorney’s fees (approximately $250 per hour), appraisal fees ($500–$750), appraiser testimony fees ($500–$750), court fees ($250–$500), subpoena fees ($200–$300), etc, etc. The system beats you! You might reduce your taxes by $500 a year — if you win your case — but you will spend eight or ten times that amount to do it. Even going it alone in the courts without an attorney would cost between $1,500 to $2,000 if you’re lucky.

The town knows this very well and that’s why they use the system to deny many appeals, even those with merit. It’s the old adage: “Take us to court,” knowing full well that nobody will. The system has to change. What is needed is a nonpartisan board not connected to the town, to hear appeals much the way the courts do, but before the court process and with little or no cost to the appellants. Perhaps these boards could be made up of taxpayers from neighboring towns who interchange with each other to hear cases in adjoining towns.

There are probably many other ways improve the system so that taxpayers can be afforded a fair and judicious opportunity present an appeal without “mortgaging the farm.” Any change has to be better than hearing: “If you don’t like it, then move.”

George Caracciolo

Schoolhouse Hill Road, Newtown                                  June 10, 2003