Stamford Mayor David Martin Requests One Year Delay in Property Revaluation

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STAMFORD, CT – Stamford Mayor David Martin announced today that the he will be formally requesting the Connecticut State legislature to give Stamford and other CT municipalities the option of postponing their required property re-assessments by one year.

Municipalities are required by law to conduct a re-assessment, also known as a revaluation, of properties every five years. The updated property assessments are used to calculate property taxes for the following five years.

Stamford is among at least 7 other towns in Fairfield County that are required to conduct a re-assessment this year. The revised property values from the current re-assessment are the basis of next year’s October 1, 2022 grand list, and in turn are used to calculate property taxes for year beginning July 1, 2023 and the following four years.

As a result of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, single-family residential and apartment markets across Fairfield County are substantially higher in value, while other property types, such as commercial retail, are depressed and weakened. These unprecedented swings in the market place could result in a 10-15% increase in residential property taxes in July of 2023, and would subsequently continue until the next 5-year re-assessment cycle.

“Our residents’ taxes should not be determined by unusual highs and lows of property values caused by the pandemic. I am concerned that our residential neighborhoods will be impacted with much higher property taxes because of a short-term increase in home prices,” said Mayor David Martin. “I believe by holding off the re-assessment for one year, we will see a leveling off of price fluctuations in the market and get a more accurate and fair assessment of property values until the next 5-year re-assessment cycle.”

Although the physical property revaluation, which requires the physical inspection of properties as part of the revaluation process, has already begun and will continue, Mayor Martin maintains that taking quick action in postponing the statistical portion of the revaluation will keep the City of Stamford from spending nearly $500,000 on the work that accompanies statistical re-assessment.

“We would like the state to authorize this local re-assessment postponement option as soon as possible so that Stamford can make responsible and cost saving decisions in a timely manner,” continued Martin. “Delay in action from the state may result in Stamford wasting hundreds of thousands on a re-assessment that could be cancelled in the next year.”

If the State Legislature provides the option to postpone the re-assessment to individual towns and municipalities, the decision whether or not to postpone the re-assessment in Stamford will ultimately fall on the next mayor and the next Board of Representatives.

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