Despite Lower Taxes––

Commercial Taxpayers Launch Court Appeals

By Kaaren Valenta

The owners of three commercial properties in Newtown have filed appeals in Danbury Superior Court, disputing the new assessed values of their properties, even though their tax bills decreased significantly.

According to appeals filed recently in Superior Court, the owners of Sand Hill Plaza at 228 South Main Street and the owners of two buildings occupied by Pitney Bowes on Schoolhouse Hill and Edmond Road are appealing the assessed values set in the town’s recent property revaluation.

The new assessments are based on the fair market value of the properties as of October 1, 2002. The town used Lesher-Glendinning Municipal Services, Inc, of East Haven a real estate appraisal company, to conduct its last two revaluations, in 2002 and 1995.

 For Sand Hill Plaza, the assessed value –– which is 70 percent of the fair market value –– was set at $14,541,450 and the new tax bill at $340,272. Previously Sand Hill Plaza was assessed at $13,938,710 and paid $471,128 in taxes. Although the assessment increased, the tax bill decreased by $130,856 –– nearly 28 percent –– when, as a result of the revaluation, the mill rate dropped from 33 to 23.4 this year.

Arbar Properties, LLC of Westport owns 11 Edmond Road, site of a Pitney Bowes plant. The property previously was assessed at $5,516,320 and paid $170,396 in taxes. As a result of revaluation, the property now is assessed at $6,560,420 but the new tax is $153,513 –– a decrease of $16,883, or almost 10 percent.

Pateley Associates, LLC of Stamford, which owns 29 Schoolhouse Hill Road, another Pitney Bowes site, is appealing its $4,650,930 assessed valuation. Previously the assessment was $4,040,230. Under the new assessment, however, the tax bill dropped from $130,644 to $95,142 –– a decrease of $35,502 or 27 percent.

Tax Collector Denise Hames said she is at a loss to explain why the companies decided to take the town to court when their tax bills went down and, in one case, the fair market value set by the appraisers was exactly the same as the price the owners paid for the property.

 “It just doesn’t make sense,” she said. “I have to go to court along with the town attorney and their lawyers –– time that would be better spent doing something else.”

Christopher G. Winans of Sullivan, Biraglia, Winans & Eberhard, a law firm in Danbury that represents Arbar Properties and Plateley Associates, said in the appeal that the valuation of the property placed by the assessors “was not its true and actual value at that assessment date but was grossly excessive, disproportionate, unlawful and grossly disproportionate to the assessment of other similarly situated commercial property in the town of Newtown.”

Arbar and Plateley appealed to the Board of Assessment Appeals of the town of Newtown, attorney Winans said, but the board made no changes in the valuation.

Lesher-Glendinning set the fair market value of Sand Hill Plaza at $20.7 million, exactly the amount that Sand Hill LLC paid for the shopping center when it purchased the property from DD Newtown Partners Limited Partnership, a real estate company chartered in the state of Delaware, in October of 2001. The lawsuit, however, describes the assessed value of the property as “grossly excessive, disproportionate and unlawful.”

Ironically, almost six years earlier, after Newtown concluded its 1995 revaluation, DD Newtown Partners also appealed the property assessment, despite the fact that it paid $20 million for the property that year and the fair market value was set at $19.9 million. That appeal eventually was dropped.

In residential appeals filed in Superior Court, Martin Bennett of 16 Borough Lane in Newtown is objecting to the increase in his assessed value from $104,010 to $178,860, a change that increased his taxes from $3,432 to $4,185. He also is appealing the $202,100 assessment on property he owns at 11-15 Connors Road, which previously was assessed at $117,770. That increase boosted his tax bill on the Connors Road property from $3,980 to $4,729.

Alexander J. Reznikoff is contesting the $440,120 assessment of his residential property at 59 Poverty Hollow Road, which previously was assessed at $246,540. The new assessment increased Mr Reznikoff’s tax bill from $8,333 to $10,298.

Ms Hames said the court appeals by five property owners are few considering that nearly 11,000 properties were appraised in the revaluation. According to her office, there are 8,464 homes in Newtown, 279 condominium units, 130 modular homes, 200 commercial buildings, and 36 industrial buildings. The remaining properties are undeveloped land.

“Out of 11,000 properties, 1,200 owners came in to meet with the reval company representatives and some of these were just to get information,” Ms Hames said. “There were 338 appeals to the Board of Assessment Appeals. Of those, the board made no changes in 203, and changed 135.

“That only five went to Superior Court shows that we had a good revaluation,” she said.

Ms Hames said property owners had 60 days to appeal the outcome of their hearings before the local assessment appeal board to the Superior Court and since those hearings were concluded in late May, she believes that there probably will not be any additional lawsuits.

After the 1995 revaluation, successful appeals by property owners reduced the 1995 grand list by $14.5 million, creating a shortfall of $362,000 in tax revenue for the town. This time town officials planned the budget to allow for potential changes and no shortfall is anticipated, Ms Hames said.