Hamden homeowners are facing steep property tax increases this year following a state-mandated revaluation that has left residents and Mayor Lauren Garrett scrambling to respond.
In a letter to residents in mid-April, Garrett warned that the assessed value of homes had risen by an average of 55%.
The roots of the problem, Garrett said, go back to the pandemic, when homebuyers flooded Hamden and other parts of Connecticut, often engaging in bidding wars that sent sale prices soaring well above asking.
“People are coming in with cash offers. People are coming in to offer more than the asking price. That has driven up the housing market,” Garrett said in an interview with Connecticut Public Radio. “That new price is now the market rate, and what has resulted in that are increases in property appraisals.”
While she promised to lower the town’s mill rate by 22%, from 55.61 to 43.39 to help blunt the impact, she acknowledged that many property owners would still see significant tax hikes.
Some homeowners facing double tax bills
Despite proposing a lower mill rate, Garrett described the resulting situation as an "effective tax increase" for many homeowners.
State law requires that assessments equal 70% of a property’s appraised market value. With those valuations sharply up, Garrett said some Hamden homeowners will see their taxes rise 10% to 20%. But others, particularly those whose assessments spiked by as much as 130%, could face a doubling of their property tax bills.
Meanwhile, Garrett said the town’s commercial properties haven’t kept pace with the residential market.
“Apartments are up there around a 40% increase in assessed value, but the retail isn’t quite there, and office space is flat,” she said.
That imbalance, she said, is shifting more of the tax burden onto homeowners and compounding their financial strain.
The mayor acknowledged that some Hamden residents could lose their homes.
“There are people who are on fixed income, and they are going to have a very difficult time affording this new reality,” Garrett said.
Frustration boils over at town council meeting
Adding to the tension, a Hamden Town Council meeting on April 24 turned heated, with one resident suggesting Garrett should be wearing a bulletproof vest. Residents voiced anger and fear over the tax hikes, criticizing town leadership for not doing more to shield them from the fallout.
“People are justifiably angry and scared,” Garrett said. “We’re going into what will probably be a recession, making things even more challenging.”
The tax increases will come despite an effective 12.22 reduction in the town's mill rate in the newest proposed budget. At the meeting, some residents criticized the mayor for not doing more. She said the fact that this comes at a time when tax revenues from commercial real estate seem poised to stagnate or fall has made this a difficult event to plan for.
“We knew that property values had gone up,” she said. “I think that where it wasn’t quite so obvious was on the commercial side — that they weren’t going up nearly as much.”
Mayor eyes long-term solutions
Looking ahead, Garrett said her administration’s goal is to lay the groundwork for a better outcome five years from now, when the next revaluation is scheduled.
“I want to make sure that we have increased our supply [of housing] to bring down some of the housing costs,” Garrett said. “I want to make sure that we are increasing our ability to have commercial properties improve their properties for highest and best use.”
She said achieving that will depend on investments in infrastructure and aggressively pursuing grants to help drive economic development.
Warning signs for other Connecticut towns
Garrett said she’s been in touch with officials in West Haven, North Haven, and Wallingford — towns that are also seeing steep tax hikes driven by revaluation.
She believes Hamden won’t be the last Connecticut town plagued by this revaluation problem.
“I think this is going to be happening throughout Connecticut,” she said.
