Norwalk Grand List falls $167.5 million
A contruction worker high above South Main Street, Feb. 22 in South Norwalk. Plans for the development dubbed 10 Monroe St. include a six-story, 150-unit mixed-use building.
NORWALK, Conn. — Norwalk’s Grand List is down $167.5 million in net taxable value, a 1.1% decrease.
Tax Assessor William Ford pegs the 2021 Grand List total net assessment at $14,940,705,232 versus $15,108,214,790 in 2020. The 2022 gross value is $15,182,731,112.
Some recent history:
- 2022 Grand List: $14,940,705,232, 1.1% decrease
- 2021 Grand List: $15,108,214,790, 2.45% increase
- 2020 Grand List: $14,972,207,943, a 1.65% increase
- 2019 Grand List: $14,728,523,380, a 2.51% increase
- 2018 Grand List: $14,368,125,568, a 16.5% increase, due to the property revaluation
Leonard Street on March 7. Approved was a 26 unit multifamily development with two workforce housing units.
Physical changes – demolition, construction, or renovations – resulted in a $179 million increase to the real estate portion of the 2022 Grand List, “based on development projects at various stages,” the City said in a statement. There was a $121 million decrease to the Grand List due to court stipulations, resultant of people filing appeals of their valuations.
“A total of sixty-four property assessment appeals were settled between January 1, 2022, and today, with eight properties receiving no change in value,” Ford said in a Feb. 28 memo to Mayor Harry Rilling and Norwalk Chief Financial Officer Henry Dachowitz.
Additionally, land consolidations resulted in a $20.45 million decrease to the real estate portion of the 2022 Grand List, the City said.
“Land consolidations include commercial and condominium development projects, as well as residential parcel combinations,” the City statement said. “These consolidations are the natural course of events for the development of commercial and condo properties. Condos do not have land value as a line item in the Grand List. Additionally, when a large parcel or several small parcels are combined and converted to land associated with building condominiums, the value of that land is lost.”
The City said:
“With respect to large commercial projects, such as apartment buildings, and commercial ventures, these combined larger parcels tend to have a reduced value compared to the value of smaller parcels that existed individually before they merged.
“Moreover, since many of the land consolidation projects in the 2022 Grand List are either mid-construction or not fully leased, the value is still developing and, therefore, less than it will be in future grand lists. Our last revaluation was in 2018, and we cannot recognize the increases in the real estate market until the 2023 revaluation is complete. At that time, some of these decreases will potentially be recaptured.”
Screenshot from a Feb. 28 memo Tax Assessor William Ford sent to Mayor Harry Rilling and Norwalk Chief Financial Officer Henry Dachowitz.
The net taxable value of personal property decreased $304.7 million while motor vehicle taxable values increased $99.6 million, Ford’s Grand List memo shows.
Ford attributed 65% of the personal property decrease to the pandemic. His memo states:
“Personal Property is property and equipment used by business. These accounts are valued using an original cost less depreciation, with the depreciation schedules per State Statutes, Rules and Regulations. Personal Property accounts will typically decline in value over time since new acquisitions do not outpace the depreciation on most of the assets.
“There is a larger than usual decrease in the Personal Property Grand List this year. The primary driver for these changes is because of the 2021 Personal Property value included penalties on businesses that filed declarations after the November 15, 2020, deadline. When a business fails to file their Personal Property declaration by the due date, a 25% penalty is added to the value of the property. This year, due to pandemic-related circumstances, these penalties were removed once businesses filed their declarations, reducing the net taxable Personal Property Grand List by $198 million.”
He outlined personal property changes:
- Adjustments to the 2021 Grand List made by the Board of Assessment appeals: 11
- Reactivated accounts: 4
- New accounts and declining values: 9
- Penalty for late filing: 2
- Business closed: 30
- Corrected declaration/penalty removed: 243
- Court stipulation: 3
- Duplicate accounts: 17
A view from South Main Street, Feb. 22 in South Norwalk. Plans for the development dubbed 10 Monroe St., approved in 2021, include a six-story, 150-unit mixed-use building.
Ford has said he faced 435 assessment challenges when he took the job in 2020.
In November, SoNo Collection owner Norwalk Land Development LLC settled its assessment appeal with the City, online Court records show. On Oct. 1, 2021, the mall’s total market value was calculated at $430,897,829 and its assessment was $301,628,480. The settlement changed the total value to $385,000,00 and the assessment as $269,500,000.
The mall’s tax bill is complicated by its location in an Enterprise Zone, subject to tax breaks on a sliding scale over time.
Bloomingdale’s, one of the mall’s anchors, challenged its personal property assessment, reaching agreement in August to reduce it by about half, from $16,818,790 to $8,261,543.
Dachowitz addressed personal property assessments in a December email to NoN:
(a) “Personal Property valuations used for tax purposes are based on a gross acquisition value minus depreciation. Since depreciation increases each year, valuations on existing personal property normally will decline each year.
(b) “During COVID, numerous businesses went out of business – the valuations of their personal property are deducted and reduce our prior year totals.
(c) “During COVID, businesses acquired less new personal property due to (i) the uncertainty of the economic environment, and (ii) problems with the supply chain and difficulty obtaining delivery of this equipment.”
A property revaluation is underway. In light of the problems, Common Council members agreed to a Finance Department proposal: commercial and residential properties will no longer be evaluated by the same company.
Vision Government Solutions was hired to revalue Norwalk residential properties, in a $900,000 contract. Commercial properties will be revalued by Safeground Analytics Inc., at a cost of $160,000.
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A view from Monroe Street, Feb. 22 in South Norwalk. Plans for the development dubbed 10 Monroe St. include a six-story, 150-unit mixed-use building. Two historic buildings are being preserved. It’s in an Enterprise Zone and qualifies for tax abatements, as of right.
A rendering of 10 Monroe St.
A view from South Main Street, Feb. 22 in South Norwalk. Plans for the development dubbed 10 Monroe St., approved in 2021, include a six-story, 150-unit mixed-use building.
6 comments
Johnny cardamone March 14, 2023 at 10:24 am
Wow, that sure doesn’t make sense! We have a mall in all these new apartments and Norwalk property is worth less than ever except for all the expensive cars!? Way past Time for Change in Norwalk!!Everybody get ready to vote Change in November!
Michael McGuire March 14, 2023 at 11:28 am
The following statements are based on my 35+ years as a commercial real estate valuation professional.
The City Said: “With respect to large commercial projects, such as apartment buildings, and commercial ventures, these combined larger parcels tend to have a reduced value compared to the value of smaller parcels that existed individually before they merged.”
I don’t agree with this statement, and I find it misleading. The essence of redevelopment is that the prior use was not feasible anymore and the new use (apartments are their example) are much more valuable than what was there prior. Essentially, the new use has a much higher value than what it is replacing. Regarding Condo’s, the ‘lost’ land value is rolled up into the overall value of each condo unit. Again, redevelopment of a site (condos included) is predicated upon a higher value achievable via the new development.
The City then says: “Moreover, since many of the land consolidation projects in the 2022 Grand List are either mid-construction or not fully leased, the value is still developing and, therefore, less than it will be in future grand lists. Our last revaluation was in 2018, and we cannot recognize the increases in the real estate market until the 2023 revaluation is complete.”
The above quote is again misleading. True that the re-val is done every 5 years. But if you make a change to your property that requires City approvals (building department sign off, etc.) the Assessor has the right to reassess the property to the new valuation effective that year. This essentially protects the broader taxpaying public, otherwise all the developers would game the system and finish their projects in the year after the re-val.
This begs the question – is Nancy not providing the full context of the statements, or are our municipal leaders intentionally gaslighting these issues? Let me know what you think.
Lisa Brinton March 14, 2023 at 11:29 am
Mismanagement, cronyism or corruption? Yes.
Nora King March 14, 2023 at 12:27 pm
Business closings should be a big wake-up call to this administration. The reason there were so many appeals is the revaluation of 2018 was a disaster and you have a lead attorney that the city pays who loves to litigate and typically loses. What neighboring towns do is try to look for the flaw in mass appraisal for that property and come to a semblance of an agreement and not wait until year 5 to settle. Now the taxpayers are going to pay the price once again. It really isn’t that difficult but this city hasn’t gotten it right since Ken left.
Drew Todd March 16, 2023 at 12:38 pm
But not to worry folks!! We are kicking business that have been around for over 27 years out for what reason??? Yep, you guessed it MORE APARTMENTS!!!!! Sanitary Cleaners after 27 years in the same location has until April 29th to vacate their home!! What a great job the City and Harry are doing! More Apartment, More Apartments, More, More Apartments…When does this BS STOP ALREADY?!?!?
Fred Wilms March 17, 2023 at 4:43 pm
The 2018 Reval resulted in many inflated commercial property valuations. The Rilling administration then gave the commercial property owners no redress but to sue in court. Many of those lawsuits are now coming home to roost.
With all the new apartment construction, we should be seeing robust Grand List growth – not shrinkage. Something is off here. Finally with a 1.1% Grand List decrease, this year’s property tax increase is going to feel much heavier.