UPDATED: Tax reduction forecast after revaluation

Written by John Kovach
Friday, 30 October 2009 13:23

Finance Director John Norko and Mayor James R. Miron announced Friday that the residential tax burden would be relived once the current revaluation is completed.

Preliminary indications show that the average homeowner would see a reduction of 3.25%, or $185, in their property taxes.

Data released during a press conference in Miron’s office showed that slightly less than 4% of real property taxes would shift to industrial and commercial properties.

The breakdown for fiscal 2010 is 83.26% residential, 16.74% commercial. For fiscal 2011, the forecast is 80.57% residential, 19.43% commercial.

Motor vehicle and personal property taxes were not included in the calculations.

Revaluation was on the agenda for recent Town Council meetings, but members said they were told numbers would not be available until mid-November.

Miron and Norko said Friday that the timing of the release, five days before Tuesday's election, was driven by the contract with the revaluation company.

State Rep. John Harkins, Republican mayoral nominee, said the election drove the timing.

"Given that the mayor made an untrue and sleazy attack on myself and Stratford's police and firefighters for which he readily admitted he had no proof, the mayor's projections about the revaluation numbers are simply hard to take seriously," Harkins said. "This is information that his administration swore up and down would not be ready until the middle of November when the council asked for it, but he curiously released the information when it fit his political needs. It's unfortunate that he'd resort to this brand of politics, especially when property 
taxes are up nearly 13% on his watch."

More information will appear in Thursday’s Stratford Star.