Revaluation Agents

Hit The Streets

By John Voket

Residents in the Riverside and Pootatuck Park area of Sandy Hook will be the first in town to be visited by field representatives contracted by the Newtown Assessor’s office as part of the townwide revaluation process.

Assessor Thomas DeNoto told The Bee Tuesday that several field representatives from Total Valuation Services, LLC will be working in and around residential properties compiling data for the state mandated process.

Mr DeNoto said he is respectfully requesting the utmost in community cooperation so the information gathering can be done as smoothly and accurately as possible.

At any given time during the field surveying process residents are welcome to contact his office or the police dispatch center to confirm the identity of field reps who will come knocking without appointments.

The representatives will be required to survey both the exterior and interior of every improved building in Newtown, along with outbuildings. Field reps will be appropriately dressed in business casual attire and will be armed with digital cameras, wireless tablet computer terminals, and measuring equipment.

The field surveyors will all be required to carry identification cards with photographs, and all have undergone police background checks as is the policy of the bonded vendor. Mr DeNoto said the three representatives currently working the areas mentioned below include: Douglas Kidd who is driving a silver Dodge Intrepid, Melvin Buchanan, who operates a white Mercury Sable sedan, and Mark LoRusso, who drives a silver Chrysler PT Cruiser.

“Each vehicle will be clearly marked with signs that read “Assessor’s Office Revaluation,” he said. “If all goes as planned, the field work is scheduled to be completed by December 2007.”

Preceding the arrival of field representatives, homeowners will receive blue postcards from Mr DeNoto’s office detailing the procedures to be performed at every residence and commercial building in town.

The streets the revaluation field representatives are working in the next week include:

Housatonic Drive, Todds Road, Hulls Road, Barkers Drive, Pomperaug Road, Overlook Knoll, Deer Trail, Shady Rest Boulevard. Also, Shepaug Road, McKenzie Circle, Anthes Avenue, River Road, Walnut Tree Hill Road, River Edge Road, Glen Road.

Farview Drive, Edge Lake Drive, Brook Bridge Drive, Narragansett Trail, Pootatuck Trail, Moccasin trail, Hucko Trail. And, King Phillip Trail, Totem Trail, Quail Trail, Tomahawk Trail, Cricket Trail, Chipmunk Trail, Maplewood Trail.

Elmwood Trail, Riverside Road, Bungalow Terrace, South Lake Drive, Lake Drive, Laurel Trail, Center Street. Also, Oak Trail, Dock Drive, Waterview Drive, Round Hill Road, Under Hill Road, Alpine Drive, Bankside Trail, Cottonwood Trail.

Bancroft Road, Poplar Drive, Longview Terrace, Watch Hill Road, Ironwood Drive, Alpine Circle, Engleside Terrace. And, Forest Drive, Capital Drive, Beacon Drive, Hilldale Drive, Rosemere Drive, Locust Drive, Shadblow Trail, Cypress Trail.

Mr DeNoto believes the greatest misconception about the reval process is that it creates higher taxes, when in fact the process simply creates or updates data — a new mass appraisal of all real property in town.

“It’s really a misunderstood practice, which is really quite important to taxpayers because it can actually save them money,” the assessor said.

“Things can happen at the federal or state level that trickle down to impact local mill rates and taxes, but the revaluation process does not trigger tax increases,” Mr DeNoto said. “In fact, a revaluation can often result in lower property taxes, especially on automobiles.”

He referenced the difference between the 2001 and 2002 tax rates where the revaluation process dropped the Newtown mil rate from 33.8 to 23.4.

“In practical terms, that means someone who owned a vehicle appraised at $10,000 paid $338 in taxes in 2001, and that same vehicle was taxed at only $234 in 2002, even if there was little or no depreciation on that vehicle because of use,” he said.

And in areas like Newtown where there are significant increases in commercial developments coupled with increases in rents for commercial space, the reval can actually translate into a subtle shift in the tax burden, taking some pressure off residential property owners.