Re-Assess This!
To the Editor:
Sorry, everyone we failed, I met with our first selectman Friday March 24th and without even looking at the forms was told the state would never give us the right to vote on reassessments.
The only option was to contest our assessments with the company that did the revaluation or thru the tax assessor’s office.
I talked with some who went this route and heard their disappointment that their numbers didn’t change much, I fear for all of you.
Mr Rosenthal did say he saw some oddities in the revalue but was powerless to change them.
He also tried to explain that larger houses were bearing the brunt of taxes in town and their numbers were lowered, and smaller homes were bumped up to equalize the amounts paid.
I don’t know about all of you, but we opted for a smaller home because of price and taxes, buy small pay less, buy large pay more. So, if we’re trying to give fair market value to homes, why at my house 97 Hanover Road did I refinance at $215,000.00, got an assessment at $263,220.00, but 14 Valley View Road assessment was $534,670 but listing on market for $700,000.00, or 74 Boulevard assessment $323,590.00 listed for sale at $226,000.00, also 35 Taunton Hill assessment $ 1,148,870.00 listing at $1,495,000.00. I don’t see anything fair here.
So, is all lost?
NO! April 25th, we vote on the town budget — a no vote won’t lower our assessments, but will lower our taxes. It’s going to be a long time before a yes vote comes from me!
CT is in the top five for taxes and it’s time for change.
Join me and vote “NO”, let’s take back our town, we deserve better!
See you at the polls and remember a no vote not only helps you but helps your family.
James Walker
Newtown
Yes, that’s exactly right. The assessment matters in the way it distributes the tax burden. But, the heart of the matter is the budget – the budget has more to do with how much tax we pay!!!!! We should make sure the budget reflects expenditures that we, as taxpayers, support.
Thank you Mr. Walker. Smaller homes (<2000 sq ft) like mine got caught in the Pandemic Frenzy where houses sold in 1-2 days at of above asking. These 'comps' are used as a basis for reevaluating our properties up. Now that the frenzy has cooled our house values are heading back down. But we will pay based on this market 'blip' for the next 5 years.
PS – Been here 35 years and voted NO every time primarily because the town side of the budget always gets squeezed while the BoE side always expands. We need to follow up NO votes with pushes to consolidate school buildings thereby eliminating some teachers and administrators whose salaries and benefits make up the bulk of the school budget. Not to mention transportation costs.