CITY OF BRISTOL

REVALUATION

2012

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 OVERVIEW

There are four major phases to a municipal revaluation: Data Collection, Market Analysis, Valuation, and Informal Hearings.

The revaluation will be based on an evaluation of the real estate collected from 2011 to October 2012. This phase of the revaluation process is collecting current information on each property that has sold since May 2011. Homeowners who have purchased their home since May 2011 will be visited and will receive a form requesting that they verify basic information about the purchase price, the condition of their home at the time of sale and other information which will enable the Assessor’s Office to determine whether their transaction will be used as part of our analysis. We ask homeowners receiving these forms to fill them out and return them to the Assessor’s Office.

The Connecticut State General Statutes require that municipalities perform revaluation no later than five years after the last revaluation and that all real property is assessed at 70% of market value as of the revaluation date. The City of Bristol completed a full physical revaluation in 1998, an update in 2002 and another full physical revaluation again in 2007.

The next revaluation of real property assessments is scheduled for 2012. This revaluation project will not include a physical inspection (interior & exterior inspection) of all real property. However, we will be inspecting property that has been recently sold.

The property tax, as the most important source of autonomous local revenue, often bears the brunt of criticism for the social, economic and fiscal pressures on local communities. We fully understand that a revaluation can have a very real economic impact within the City once the results are released. Revaluations have a long history of creating intense conjecture and debate with respect to fairness and accuracy. It is with this understanding that we take great pains to ensure that every one of our appraisals accurately reflects current market value as defined by the State of Connecticut. We also work closely with our citizens after values are released to make sure the process is understood and accepted. The City of Bristol and ultimately the taxpayers are heavily dependent on the property tax to pay for important services such as police, fire, public schools, waste disposal and snow removal. It is through the delivery of professional, properly executed cyclical property revaluations that the important task of ensuring that these vital property tax levies are fairly and equitably distributed.

PHASE 1: DATA COLLECTION

The first phase, Data Collection, started the first week of May 2011, will continue through September 2012. During this phase Assessors go to each sold property to inspect the interior and exterior of each building

All Assessors will carry Identification Cards and have their cars listed with both the Assessor’s Office and the City of Bristol Police Department.

PHASE 2: MARKET ANALYSIS

A variety of resources are used to analyze the real estate market. While the sales data is being collected, appraisal personnel will be analyzing recent sales that took place over the last few years to determine which market factors influenced property values. Once all the data is collected and reviewed for accuracy, the appraiser will determine land values and set Neighborhood Site Indexes, that rate the desirability of locations throughout the City.

PHASE 3: VALUATION

Valuation is done using one or more of the three recognized methods, Replacement Cost, Income Approach and Market Value. Market Value is the most widely used approach, and most easily explained to the taxpayer. During this phase, individual characteristics of the building are analyzed using information on the Assessor’s field card. Each property is compared to other comparable sale properties with similar characteristics. Then the market value of the improvements, are added to the land value that was previously determined. This value is the final estimate for each parcel of property, building and land.

PHASE 4: INFORMAL MEETINGS OR HEARINGS

A Notice of New Values will be mailed to each property owner. This mailing should take place approximately the third week of November 2012. At this time, anyone with questions concerning the revaluation process or about the data on their property has an opportunity to meet with a member of Assessor’s staff to discuss their property value.

Additional Information:

This is a link to the Vision Appraisal online Database. This site contains periodically updated assessment information for all parcels in the City of Bristol.

Additonal information may be obtained by contacting the Assessor’s Office at 860-584-6240