Did the house get a few renovations before you bought it?

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Yeah, the assessment on my place jumped too. I don't think it has anything to do with renos or anything like that because the city of Stamford doesn't have a way of keeping tabs on what people do with their own house. I do wonder if it has something to do with the drove of folks moving here from the city buying property, causing real estate value to go up?

Yes, exactly. The stamford market spiked exponentially from 2020-2022. Areas that were in the 350k-400k range in 2018 are now in the 600k-650k range, roughly.

Try checking the city website. I know Fairfield has a page on the town website about the process, what to expect, etc.

The entire Stamford market received a significant Covid bump. A house purchased last year was worth more at the time of the assessments. While it’s good for you on paper because your house has upside value, it also results in a higher assessment and tax bill.

Property value goes up but mill rate goes down. The real increase is a marginal %

If I didn’t receive my new assessment in the mail is there another way to view it or ask for it?

You can look up properties here Stamford Vision

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If you just bought the house in a marketed / arms length transaction for significantly less than the assessment that’s good backup in itself. The town should have record of the sale but bring some evidence of the sale for the file. Appraisals are also extremely useful - definitely bring a copy of the appraisal. You could look at comps but I would focus heavily on the recent sale and appraisal. They will go much farther in establishing the value of your property than what your neighbors house may or may not be worth.

The assessment is off by 10% or so and it won’t impact your taxes… appealing seems like a huge effort for very little to gain. If your valuation is high then everyone of your neighbors will be too, they use the same methodology for everyone.

The assessed value is supposed to be 70% of fair market value:

"The 2022 revaluation of all real estate in the City of Stamford is complete. As per the General Statutes of the State of Connecticut (§12-55 & §12-62(f) and local ordinance property assessment notices were recently mailed to all property owners. The new assessment represents 70% of the estimated fair market value as of October 1, 2022. The last revaluation was performed as of October 1, 2017."

https://www.stamfordct.gov/government/administration/property-assessment/property-revaluation

I believe an appeal is far more likely to lower your assessment than to raise it, so you'd have little to lose. I couldn't tell you the proper documentation to help your case, but the recent assessment and the comps sound like they would improve your case.

Highly suggest getting an attorney who specializes in this. They can help immensely.

Increase is likely systematic, but if you're looking for idiosyncrasies I'd: compare the cities metrics YoY, n vs the independent appraisal. Then flup w the city for clarification why something seems off.

1. The assessment is done every 3 years (or 4 years?) and is largely driven by the area you're in not the house itself. As you know, property values have jumped in the past few years and the state is catching up.

2. I believe the assessment is done by the state or at the very least follows pretty stringent state guidelines. I can't imagine gaining anything out of an appeal beyond a 15 minute meeting.

My property evaluation went up $20k and I bought this place in the second half of this year. It seems stupid but I don't think I'll gain anything that I'll lose by trying to track down who comes up with this crap.