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Small-business owners appeal 25% late-filing penalty at Fairfield assessment hearing
Summary
At the Board of Assessment Appeals on March 5, several small-business owners asked the board to reduce personal-property assessments after late or missing declarations and questioned a 25% state penalty and how the assessor’s office calculates depreciated values and tax bills.
Several small-business owners appeared before the Board of Assessment Appeals on March 5 to contest personal-property assessments and the 25% late-filing penalty the assessor’s office applies when declarations are submitted after the November 1 deadline.
The hearing covered multiple cases in which owners said they either did not receive the annual declaration forms or filed late, and in several instances asked the board to accept a much lower depreciated value for shop equipment than the town recorded. Staff explained the assessor’s office treats the penalty as a state-mandated addition to the gross assessment and said the board itself cannot waive the penalty under state law.
Why it matters: For small, newly started businesses, a mistaken or missed declaration can multiply the assessed value by 1.25 and — when combined with local mill rates — produce a tax bill or billing threshold that surprised some appellants. Owners said they lacked clarity about what numbers would be carried through…
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