Town Manager's Report - January 22, 2019

Development of FY 20 Budget – First Public Hearing

A Public Hearing will be held on February 4, 2019 at 7:15 PM regarding the development of the FY 20 budget. Citizens are welcome to come voice their opinions and give their input during that time.

 

Income Tax Consulting for Seniors

Income tax consulting for seniors begins Monday, February 4, 2019 and will be held every Monday and Thursday through March 28, 2019 from 9:00 AM to 11:00 AM at the Windsor Senior Center (no consulting held on February 19). Seniors can get the advice they need to fill out their federal and state income tax returns from trained AARP volunteers. Bring your 1099 and W-2 forms together with a copy of last year’s tax return. This is a free service, but appointments are necessary and available spots fill quickly.  Make an appointment by calling 860-285-1992.

 

Assistance for Furloughed Federal Employees

Today the House and Senate passed, and Governor Lamont signed, bill HB 5765 establishing a loan program and a local option provision for towns (at their choice) to establish a program to defer the due date of specific property taxes owed by affected federal employees.

The term affected employee means a federal employee who during the shutdown is (A) a resident of this state and (B) required to work as a federal employee without pay or furloughed as a federal employee without pay.

The law authorizes municipalities to defer taxes due after December 22, 2018.

Here in Windsor, this would only apply to the supplemental motor vehicle bills which became due on January 1, 2019 since we bill annually for all other taxes.

In order to establish the program, the Town Council would need to take a formal vote.

 

October 1, 2018 Revaluation

Revaluation work began in March of 2018 with the mailing of residential and condominium data mailers. The purpose of the data mailer was to verify the accuracy of the information already in the assessment system.  This process eliminated the need for an on-site visit and measurement of every property.

All sales from January 1, 2016 through September 2018, were field-checked and information gathered to verify the sale amount and the physical condition of the property at the time of the sale.  This process determined the market value changes needed for the revaluation.

Income and expense forms were mailed to all rental property.  The information received was used to value the commercial, industrial and apartment properties as of October 1, 2019.

Consultants, Vision Governmental Services, assisted in analyzing the residential sales and valuing those properties.

The following are the % changes for the various property types:

Residential                        +  4.6%

Condominium                   +11.4%

Multi Family                     +11.7%

Apartments                       +15.8%

Commercial/Industrial +  7.9%

Once all values were determined, a notice was mailed to each property owner showing the new market value.  This notice was sent at the end of November and it allowed for a period of time for informal hearings if the owner requested one.  The hearings, with assessment staff, were held in December and early January.  207 appointments, or 1.8%, were completed and taxpayers were notified of the results.

A property owner may appeal their valuation to the Board of Assessment Appeals by submitting a formal request to the Tax Assessor by February 20, 2019. More information can be found at  https://townofwindsorct.com/assessor/ or by contacting the Assessor’s office at 860-285-1816.