An Update on Hartford’s 2021 Revaluation

Home with a Dusting of Snow

We spoke with the City of Hartford Assessor earlier today to get an update on the timeline for the City’s 2021 Revaluation.

The current target for distributing assigned market values to all the property owners in the City is late January.

The Assessor’s staff, and the contractors helping with the revaluation, are taking extra time to be sure that they feel totally confident in the values before sending them out. Even though this approach creates a delay from the traditional timeline, it still seems preferable to the alternatives.

Physical letters will be sent to owners, and the letters will have instructions about the remaining steps in the process. Once distributed, property owners will have the same opportunities to review and challenge their values as they have had in prior revaluation years.

One-on-one conversations with the contractor helping with the revaluation will be available for a few weeks after the letters arrive. If an owner feels their value is unfair, then this is their chance to make the case that the assigned number is out of line with comparable properties. It is possible to get assigned values adjusted, but an argument is much more likely to succeed if it is based on data rather than on emotion.

If an owner is still unsatisfied with the result of the informal conversation described above, then they need to formally appeal their value to the City’s Board of Assessment Appeals. Instructions about this process will be available as we get into February and the opportunity to go before the Board gets closer.

Taking a step back, it is likely that almost everyone’s assigned value will increase over their current number. Remember that the current values were assigned back in 2016, and the real estate market saw a sharp increase in home prices over the past two years. Just because a new assigned value is higher does not mean that it is unfair.

We’re happy to review your situation with you, so don’t hesitate to reach out with questions.