Board of Assessment Appeals

After Reval, Total Reductions through Assessment Appeals Expected To Be Minor

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Town officials said Tuesday that the value of all taxable property in New Canaan is not expected to change substantially as a result of assessment appeals following the recent revaluation. The Grand List likely will see a reduction of about $20 million after the Board of Assessment Appeals completes its work, according to Sebastian Calderella, the town assessor. During a regular meeting of the Board of Selectmen, Caldarella provided the following history of appeals after a town-wide reval:

 

“It varies, depending on where the market is going,” Caldarella said during the meeting, held at Town Hall. 

First Selectman Kevin Moynihan noted that the figures Caldarella cited are not final since some people appeal local assessment decisions in court. Officials have said New Canaan’s Grand List would decline by some $570 million as a result of the revaluation, to about $7.7 billion overall. Selectman Nick Williams called the $20 million figure is “a proverbial drop in the bucket” as part of the overall Grand List.

Board of Assessment Appeals

Judge Denies Town’s Attempt To Transfer Tax Assessment Appeal Case to New Britain 

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A state Superior Court judge has sustained an objection filed on behalf of a New Canaan business that’s objecting to the town’s valuation of 52 vehicles in its fleet, Connecticut Judicial Branch records show. The town had sought to transfer the case of Hoyt Livery versus the Town of New Canaan to New Britain, saying the state Tax and Administrative Appeals Session located there specializes in appeals such as the one brought in September by the Cross Street business. However, Judge Robert Genuario on Nov. 13 sustained an objection filed on behalf of Hoyt Livery by Danbury-based attorney Candace Fay. Fay noted in her objection that none of the areas over which the Tax Session has exclusive statewide jurisdiction—orders from the Department of Revenue Services, certain decrees of the probated courts and decisions of the Penalty Review Committee, for example—apply in this case.

Government

Business Sues Over Assessment of Motor Vehicles

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The town on Thursday received a civil summons filed on behalf of a local business that’s objecting to the town’s valuation of 52 vehicles in its fleet. New Canaan last year assessed the Hoyt Livery vehicles—mostly newer-model Chevys, Fords, Lincolns and Chryslers, ranging from about $4,000 to $31,000—in a way that was “grossly excessive, disproportionate and unlawful,” according to the lawsuit, filed by Danbury-based attorney Candace Fay. 

Representatives for Hoyt Livery on Sept. 5 appeared before the Board of Assessment Appeals to make its case, yet that volunteer body “made inconclusive and unsubstantiated changes in the valuations” and notified the plaintiff about them on Sept. 11, the lawsuit said. The legal filing seeks to appeal the Board’s ruling and reduce the assessment, with a reimbursement for overpayment of taxes “with interest and costs.”

New Canaan will undergo a revaluation of real property in town on Oct.

Government

In Court Filing, Lukes Wood Road Homeowners Appeal Town’s Tax Assessment

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The owners of a four-acre property on Lukes Wood Road last week filed papers with state Superior Court to appeal New Canaan’s valuation of their house and land. 

According to an amended complaint filed July 23 by New Canaan-based attorney JT Hoffman LLC on behalf of Rebecca and Ori Bukai of 260 Lukes Wood Road, the total appraised value of $3,576,300—upheld by the Board of Assessment Appeals in March—is “unreasonably excessive, disproportionate and unlawful.” 

The figure makes its assessed value about $2.5 million. The homeowners are “aggrieved” by the assessment and “provided” recent and relevant comparables and evidence demonstrating the real and current value of the subject property to be at or below $2 million. The property had been purchased last August for about $1,987,500, tax records show. It includes a 1996-built, 7,700-square-foot Colonial. Hoffman in the complaint calls for the valuation “to be reduced to 70 percent of its true, current and actual value.”

The town, assessor and Board of Assessment Appeals are listed as defendants, represented by Westport-based Berchem Moses PC, firm of Town Attorney Ira Bloom.

Government

Ponus Ridge Homeowner Appeals Assessment in Court

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The town last week received a civil summons from the owners of a Ponus Ridge home, seeking a reduced assessment of their property. Filed May 2 on behalf of the owners of 1480 Ponus Ridge by attorneys at Stamford-based Wofsey, Rosen, Kweskin & Kuriansky, LLP, the citation calls for town officials to appear later this month in state Superior Court in Stamford. According to the legal notice, the property’s owners had sought “relief against a wrongful assessment of real property for taxation” but no change in valuation was made after appearing before the Board of Assessment Appeals. Town records show that 77 property owners appeared before the board through four hearings in March. The Ponus Ridge homeowners’ property—a nearly 10,000-square-foot, 2007-built home on 3.24 acres—was valued at about $6.6 million, meaning its assessed value (70 percent of that figure) was about $4.6 million following an Oct.