But Not Tax Bills—

Next Revaluation Could Reduce Assessments As Much As 30 Percent

By John Voket

Local property owners will soon begin receiving survey packets from the company hired by the Newtown Assessor containing residential property “data mailers.” Assessor Chris Kelsey said the mailers, which will be coming from the town’s vendor Vision Government Solutions, mark the first step in calculating the town’s 2012 revaluation.

The packets will begin going out to property owners the week of July 23, and the assessor is asking property owners to provide the information requested to “help verify information against current real property records.”

The 2012 revaluation is now in progress, and it will effect the 2013 tax bills, Mr Kelsey told The Bee. “Because of when the reval falls in the five-year cycle, most property owners can expect to see a decrease in their assessment by July 1, 2013.”

Mr Kelsey explained that the last town-wide revaluation was held “at the height of the real estate market.”

“There have been drastic reductions in property values since then,” he said. “Since most homes in the town sales ratio are down around 30 percent, homeowners should expect their revaluation to mirror that trend.”

While Mr Kelsey said the drop in assessments will continue to assure everyone pays an equitable share of property taxes, it does not mean they will see a 30 percent reduction in their tax bill. That is because the cost to run the community from a government standpoint, cannot retract by 30 percent.

As a result, the level of tax revenue will nearly balance out by slight increases in auto and personal property taxation, slight increases on some of Newtown’s larger homes, and a countering increase in the mill rate. A mill represents one dollar of taxation for every $1,000 in taxable property.

“There has to be an adjustment against the grand levy, which is the overall cost to run the town,” he said. “The amount needed to function remains constant, even though the assessment of properties decline to correspond with the drop in property values.”