Budget Trends in the City of Hartford

Hartford is in the middle of a budget debate in which City leaders work to close a meaningful gap between revenue and expenses. There are many moving parts to the discussion, and difficult decisions will be made. There is also one real estate related consideration that we want to highlight. Last June the state legislature passed a law that defines how the City of Hartford’s split property tax system will work for the coming five

Hartford Revaluation 2011 – Mill Rate Estimate

Thursday’s Hartford Courant contained an article and photo gallery projecting possible tax bills for a number of different properties in the City of Hartford. Their story contained just enough information to figure out what their model of the revaluation’s results say about the mill rate and residential assessment ratio. The Courant is projecting that the three property classes will have assessment ratios of 70% for commercial, 50% for apartments (which now includes four-family buildings) and

West Hartford Revaluation 2011 – Mill Rate Estimate

Last Tuesday we wrote about the West Hartford revaluation, focusing on the informal hearings that allow individual property owners to challenge the market values that they received in the mail from the Town. Today we turn our attention to analyzing the big picture results of the revaluation. Amanda Falcone’s piece in the Thursday’s Hartford Courant quotes West Hartford Assessor Joseph Dakers Sr. as saying the new market values will “likely cause the town’s grand list

West Hartford Revaluation 2011 – Informal Hearings

West Hartford’s 2011 revaluation is progressing smoothly, and reached the public phase when Market Value letters began arriving during the second half of November. Before going any further, it is very important to emphasize three key points: 1. Property taxes don’t change until July 2012. 2. Taxes would be calculated based on the “New Property Assessment” in the bottom right of the letter, not the market value. 3. The mill rate will change, so multiplying

Hartford’s Revaluation 2011 – Update

On Thursday, December 1st, updated market values began arriving from the City of Hartford. We were eagerly awaiting our letter because, well, real estate things get us excited and the revaluation is important. Now it’s here and it’s time to go to work interpreting what it all means. Proposed Fair Market Value The first important point to make is that the numbers sent by the City have no immediate impact on our property taxes. They