Median rise is 49 percent

By Susan MacEachron

Norfolk hired eQuality Valuation Services, LLC to work with the Town Assessor to manage the state mandated revaluation of all property. The first phase of the process is complete, and all property owners should have received a Revaluation Notice of Assessment Change in November. The new market value assessments for residential properties range from a slight decrease in market value to an increase of 298 percent. The median increase is 49 percent—that means, half increased by the same or a  lesser amount and half by the same or a greater amount.

The last revaluation was in 2018, and periodic revaluations are necessary to distribute property taxes as equitably as possible. Town Assessor Rae Ann Walcott said the assessments are primarily based on square footage and a determination of current market values. 

Property owners were entitled to make an appointment with eQuality representatives to review their valuation. Walcott said that 53 property owners did so. Notices communicating the results of the hearings will be mailed in January 2025.  

Walcott will then aggregate all the new property values and provide the Board of Finance with the updated Grand List. Property owners who wish to challenge the new assessment may file an appeal with the Board of Assessment Appeals by submitting a written request on the prescribed form by Feb. 20, 2025. Forms are available in the assessor’s office and online at norfolkct.org/board-of-assessment-appeals. Appeals will be heard in March 2025.

Until the Board of Finance approves a budget and establishes the mill rate for the tax year beginning July 1, 2025, which would likely occur in late April or early May, property owners will not be able to calculate the tax owed on the assessed value. An increase in the assessed value of any particular property does not necessarily translate into an increase in tax, but one could assume that a significant increase in value likely will mean a higher tax bill.