I mean property value in stamford over the last 2-3 years has increased exponentially. An area that was $350k-380k in 2019 is now ~$600k+, I’m no tax pro but I can’t help but think that may have an effect

havent looked at the market there since maybe 6 years ago, but a 300k increase is crazy to me. especially given the area the property is located is not the "nice" part of stamford.

thank you for your input

Yea that’s pretty aggressive. Part of the reason I moved to Stamford about a year and half ago was because taxes were reasonable in comparison to Westchester and other areas of CT. If my house gets assessed significantly higher and taxes go up accordingly…Stamford wouldn’t be as desirable.

Yeah. My taxes are going from 7500 to 10000. I'm pissed.

im a NYer myself. westchester is insane. not related to the post but one thing that turns me away from living in stamford myself is there is no bulk pickup for residents. only way to get rid of bulk trash is to drive it to the town dump

Really? Good info.

yeah that was a hard learning curve for me, tenants put out chairs, mattresses, etc. and they dont care. i thought it was the wrong day they were putting it out but it turns out they never offered a pickup service. even a chair the town wont take. only the dump

mine currently sit at 15k.........

My guess is the covid exodus from nyc means the property value versus 2018 has exploded. I know I was house shopping during the covid years and the market was absolute bananas. The house we got had 2 over asking offers on it the day it hit the market, supposedly one of which was sight-unseen.

So yeah, the good news is your house is worth a lot more now.

So that’s a 50% increase which is pretty steep. Ours (also Stamford) is going up 30%. In our case that tracks pretty well with what our property value has done in that time. Down from its peaks, but about 30% higher that when the city did its last assessment.

The Grand list is going up 18%, so your effective taxes will be rising over 30% (~50-18).

On your assessment you can challenge the value, the include instructions to do so. If you feel the 50% increase is not in line with where your property value is in relation to the market, that would be your best bet.

Question-Do they mail you the assessment, or how is it usually received by the owner?

I received mine in the mail yesterday

Thanks

As someone who is looking to buy in Stamford soon, this is quite scary. Will they be adjusting the mill rates down to compensate for the increased valuations? Stamford's rate is already way higher than Greenwich/Darien IIRC.

My (limited) understanding of US property taxes is that if all houses in Stamford get inflated valuations and the overall budget of the city is not moving much, then the mill rate automatically adjust and your tax liability remains the same. That would be different if 1)the city decides to increase their budget, then asking more from each homeowner, or 2) if your house increased in value more than the rest of your neighborhood / city, then your “share” of the city taxes is higher. Anybody, feel free to correct me if I’m completely wrong!

Yeah, assessed values are often still comically low relative to actual prices. For example, our house was last assessed by the city at $515k. New assessment came in at $660k. Actual assessment when we bought it? $1.2 million.

OP doesn’t even live in Stamford, so is part of the reason prices are so inflated and assessments are going up. I find it difficult to feel all that sympathetic for an out-of-town landlord.

Exactly. Oh boo boo you're paying taxes to the city you leech off.

Stamford, like every other CT city / town, is required to reassess property values every 5 years. These assessments are aimed to be 70% of the fair market value of the property. Due to the COVID real estate bubble, house prices went way up the last few years.

Our assessment has been adjusted to 25% higher than the prior year, but that does not mean that property taxes are going up 25%. The Board of Finance sets the mill rate in May 2023. There will be an increase but it should not be that huge, especially since prices are likely to decline from these peaks given the change in mortgage interest rates.

These assessments are supposed to be 70% of fair market value.

That’s good to know—still coming about $200k under what 70% would give, so I feel great about it.

The notice said the new mill rate won’t be announced till May 2023. Just because your value went up 30% it says in notice that doesn’t mean your taxes will increase 30%. That would be a massive increase for already very high property taxes.

It says the new mill rate will be announced may 2023 in notice

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You can hire someone on the cheap to take it away.

The notice says how to calculate estimated increase. You need to subtract the increase in the Grandlist (18%) from the increase in valuation to get the net increase.

Basically the sum of all property in Stamford went up 18%, so if your property is up 18% you can expect no changes. Above 18% your taxes are going up by the difference, below 18% they’re going down.

A rising tide lifts all boats. I wouldn’t expect your taxes to increase by more than the normal amount. The mil rate will simply drop to reflect the higher assessments.

Fwiw - my assessment went up quite a bit too. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that your tax bill will go up. Mill rate will go DOWN for sure (although your taxes will almost certainly go up a bit, but not as much as you would this from the increase in assessment).

Actually I just received my assessment change notice and it is as expected. My house was reassessed 20% higher than previous assessment. But the estimated growth of the grand list (I.e all real estate in stamford) is 18%. So assuming no change to the city’a budget. My real increase in taxes is ~2% (the difference above the city average). The new mill rate will be adjusted accordingly in may 2023.

how do you invest in out of state real estate without keeping an eye on the market

because im not actively looking to acquire anything new in stamford at the moment. mostly parts of ny. havent bought in years just managing now

Gotcha, thank you!

Mine just went up 33%. Scary. If they don't lower the mill rate with these new assessments I can no longer afford to live here. I really hope the board of finance and mayor take into account the inflated increase in property values we are all seeing when they set the next budget and mill rates. Property values were at an all time high when the assements were done and are slowly now coming down due to higher interest rates. I wish i could appeal but i doubt i would be successful since i cant really contest property values in this market. I highly recommend all home owners email the mayors office and board of finance if possible and express your thoughts and concerns.