Simsbury's Revaluation Process to Begin in Late August

It’s that time again. Simsbury will begin its next round of state-mandated revaluation of local properties later this month. The town's last revaluation was completed in 2007. Connecticut state law requires a complete town-wide real estate revaluation every five years.

The Waterbury-based appraisal firm eQuality Valuation Services, LLC, has been contracted by the town to assist the with the project. The contract with eQuality, for $265,000, is for the revaluation of 9,293 parcels, or $28.52 per parcel.  

The town also contracted with PBS Systems, LLC, of Hartford to assist in the valuation of certain commercial or industrial properties. The contract with PBS is for $35,000.

The revaluation process is designed to eliminate inequities that may arise in assessments, as different properties experience appreciation or depreciation at varying levels over time.

In a revaluation, the market value of each property is estimated and that estimate becomes the basis of the assessment for the following year's tax, and for the four years following that, according to the town website.

This revaluation will be for the October 1, 2012 assessment date.

At a July 22 board of selectmen’s meeting when the project was discussed, First Selectman Mary Glassman asked town assessor David M. Gardner about the impact of values that have dropped. Gardner said that right now the assessment to sale price ratio is 72 percent for residential, which is not that bad considering the current market.  

Thomas F. Cooke, director of administrative services, also let the board know that he and Gardner are looking at regionalization options with regards to the revaluation process for the future.

Data collection, the first phase of the project, is scheduled to begin in late August. Each property must be viewed once every 10 years. This town-wide data collection was done for the 2002 revaluation and was not repeated for the 2007 revaluation.

For more information, contact the Simsbury assessor’s office at 860-658-3251 or eQuality at 203-346-1000.