Top 10 of 2022: #3: Property Revaluation

Property tax revaluations in Connecticut communities are producing higher than ever appraisals for tax purposes. New Britain is no exception and the impact on city residents and the municipal budget will hit home in 2023 when they take effect.

Connecticut’s main system for local taxation, property taxes, are regressive, meaning that people tend to pay more of their income the less they have. Post-pandemic revaluation increases bring to front-and-center long-dormant discussions about what the city can do to make the amount of property taxes people pay a little fairer and, in general, all of the value judgments made in city budgeting. In 2023 the higher assessments come as the city grants generous (20+ years) abatements to developers for downtown development. Cranes in the air and the promise of market rate housing and mixed use revitalization are promising but the local tax burden will again fall disproportionately on homeowners and tenants.

As in every year, there was so much news that the New Britain Progressive covered 2022 that choosing our traditional Top Ten stories of the year is difficult. But the significance that this story has for the news in 2023, makes this the #3 of the New Britain Progressive‘s Top Ten Stories of 2022.