Updated July 31, 2006
Facing
a dramatic increase in residential housing values, as compared with commercial
property values, the City of Hartford
sought yet another postponement of the 2006 city-wide revaluation which had
been mandated by the Connecticut General Assembly.
Recognizing that postponement would
be tantamount to sweeping the problem under the proverbial rug, Connecticut’s solons
rejected the request. Instead, new phase-in
legislation was passed which would limit the average annual residential tax
increase resulting from the revaluation to 3.5 percent for the next five years.
At the same time, the surcharge on commercial properties enacted in 1999 which
provoked great concern of the business community will be phased out over the same period.
Had this action not been taken,
according to the Hartford Courant,
“revaluation of property in (Hartford)
would have dramatically shifted the overall tax burden in the city from
commercial to residential taxpayers, with homeowners facing potential increases
of more than 100 percent.”
Elliott Pollack
Pullman & Comley, LLC
American Property Tax Counsel (APTC)