Ansonia mayor addresses tax issues

By James Della Volpe

ANSONIA - As mayor of this community, I’d like to address our property tax concerns in Ansonia.

Why did my taxes go up this year?

Ansonia taxes increased for many people, including myself, primarily due to revaluation of real property. Also, the state contributed less funding in certain areas, which meant a loss of revenue, while the city increased its local commitment to our schools and police protection. 

What is revaluation?

Connecticut mandates municipal property revaluations every five years to measure and determine changes in property values. By law, municipalities must assess property for 70 percent of its fair market value, which is then taxed. 

How does it work?

Municipalities hire professional property appraisal firms to complete field inspections of all properties. Value is then determined using "generally accepted mass appraisal methods," which for residential properties includes comparing the recent sales of similar properties and determining how much it would cost to replace the home if it was damaged or destroyed. 

When was the last time Ansonia had a revaluation?

Prior to 2012, Ansonia's last property revaluation was performed in 2007 at the height of the real estate growth, which resulted in unusually high property assessments and protests from Ansonia's commercial sector.  

What happened this year?

As required by State mandates, Ansonia hired a professional property appraisal firm to inspect about 5,500 property parcels for the revaluation process. The city's total taxable assessment for real estate decreased by an average of 25 percent. The decrease was fairly uniform across the city, but multi-family houses lost more value than single-family homes. With all that said, the city still needs to raise a fixed amount of money in order to provide services to its citizens.

How do we move forward?

As Mayor of this fine community, I am instituting strong cost cutting measures including an annual municipal energy rate reduction of $380,000; water authority fire service reduction saving over $3 million over the next ten years; a $802,000 reduction, over four years, in cost saving reforms with municipal employee health, life and dental benefits.

I am also working with State and local officials to interconnect Derby’s water treatment plant with Ansonia, providing savings for our ratepayers from the state-mandated sewage treatment facility upgrade. 
Also moving forward, I am aggressively implementing a new economic development program to attract new business growth to Ansonia’s local economy and tax base, which will impact our Grand List, reducing the burden on our residents.

I encourage anyone who has additional questions to contact me directly at 203-736-5900.

This is a guest column.