Residents have begun receiving their notice of the mandatory five-year property revaluation conducted over the past year, and according to town officials, many taxpayers will likely see an increase in their property taxes. Officials caution, however, that despite significant increases to the value of some properties, that figure does not necessarily translate into an equivalent property tax increase.

According to First Selectman and former Board of Finance (BOF) chairman Matt Hoey, residents need to be aware of several factors involved in how municipalities calculate property tax rates.

“What people need to understand is that the revaluation numbers that they have received are a value for their property for a specific time and that time is Oct. 1 of 2021 to Sept. 30 of 2022. And a lot of the data that’s been compiled reflects sale prices on properties that have turned over in that time frame. What we want residents to understand is that a town’s mil rate is inversely proportional to the town’s grand list,” Hoey said. “A mil rate is established by the total value of property in a community, against the spending plans of how much a budget is going to be. The reality is that until such time as we pass a new budget next spring, with a new mil rate based on a total grand list, we won’t be able to tell anybody what their taxes will be. What folks need to remember is that they should not apply the current mil rate to your assessment to try and figure out their taxes. I was surprised too, I see a significant increase as well on my property, so I understand the concerns residents have.”

Hoey also said the Town is looking at how the third-party evaluation company conducted its valuation. No errors in the data gathering are suspected, but Hoey said the town is simply looking at every avenue available to obtain as much information as possible on what the ultimate impact might be for taxpayers.

“One of the things we are trying to work through is ensuring the data points and methodology that was used by our reval company are consistent with the way it has been done over the past several cycles and to try and understand the nuances in a big ‘upmarket’ situation, versus some of the prior ones which saw a drop in the grand list,” Hoey said. “We will continue to work with the company to ensure accuracy on all aspects of the process, which is something we do every cycle.”

Unfortunately, Guilford’s former tax assessor, Jennifer Bernardo, retired during this cycle's process and the new assessor, Rebecca Zychowski, who only started on Nov. 7, was not prepared to comment. The department did issue a fact sheet that contains all of the relevant info on how and why the revaluation was conducted and what taxpayers’ responsibilities and rights are in regard to appealing or obtaining more information.

According to Hoey, currently, it appears as if the town’s overall grand list will rise approximately 30 to 35 percent due to the increase in property values. In effect, any increase in a home's value would be offset by that grand list increase. For example, if your home’s value rose 60 percent, your tax bill would not increase not by 60 percent, but residents should expect an increase in property taxes to some degree for 2023-'24. Conversely, if a property owner’s value increased by less than the average, there is a strong likelihood that their taxes would drop, according to Hoey.

“Anybody whose property value exceeded the new grand list total will most likely pay more in property taxes, [and] anyone less than that average will probably pay less in taxes,” Hoey said. “The mil rate is just a byproduct of a spending plan against a total valuation of properties. The grand list gets adjusted every year. Any new expenditures are offset by any growth in the grand list. This is classic municipal financing 101, this is my 31st budget I’ve been involved in, and I’ve been part of several revals as well. It’s not an easy concept to understand. But residents should understand-there is an inverse relationship between grand list growth and the mil rate.”

Hoey added, “The reality is, any spending increase that gets approved by the voters next year will be the differential over the previous year’s allocation, which means the total taxes collected will be affected only by the differential between what we spent last year and this year. We are taking all possible steps to ensure the process is done fairly and accurately. The one thing I want to repeat to people is not to take your current reval number and use the current mil rate to calculate their property taxes.”

At publication time, the deadline for an informal hearing with the third-party revaluation company will have passed, but according to the fact sheet, residents can still request a formal hearing before the Town’s Board of Assessment Appeals.

More information, including the fact sheet, is available at guilfordct.gov/town_departments/assessor/revaluation_information.php