The Town of Norfolk and the Confucian Study Association, Inc. reached a settlement in Litchfield Superior Court on whether the religious group should pay taxes to the town and in what amount.

The association sued the town in August 2016 claiming exemption from taxes for its 48-acre property on Westside Road, the former Deerspring Bruderhof compound.

By the terms of the agreement, which has yet to be formally sanctioned by a judge, the Confucian Study Association will pay taxes to the town.

The assessed value of the property, however, has been reduced from $9 million to $6 million, and the portion of the property in active use for religious purposes, valued at $2.2 million, has qualified as tax-exempt. The value of the taxable property is set at $3,860,540.

“I did go back and do an inspection,” said Assessor Michele Sloane, “and I lowered the assessment.”

The tax-exempt portions of the property, according to Sloane, consist of a temple, the ground it stands on, four residential buildings and an office building.

There are reportedly 16 buildings on the property in all.