Assessor reports modest net grand-list decline after state revises vehicle depreciation schedule

Acting City Assessor Alex Bullen told the committee that the city's 2024 taxable grand list shrank slightly from the prior year but the impact was smaller than earlier estimates after the state released a revised motor-vehicle depreciation schedule.

The matter matters because the grand list underpins property-tax revenue forecasts used in the mayor's proposed budget and because the committee approved a local ordinance amendment to adopt the revised depreciation schedule for motor vehicles.

"The city's net grand list for 2024, as I signed it on January 31, was roughly $8,980,000,000," Acting City Assessor Alex Bullen said, noting that an initial change in state law requiring motor vehicles to be valued using manufacturers' suggested retail price minus depreciation reduced the motor-vehicle portion sharply. Bullen said an initial calculation produced a $59,600,000 reduction in motor-vehicle assessed value, equivalent to a roughly 10.31% drop in the motor-vehicle list.

After the Connecticut General Assembly and the governor provided a modified depreciation option, assessors recalculated the motor-vehicle schedule. Bullen said the revised schedule reduced the projected decline to about $2,500,000 below the 2023 motor-vehicle value. "With this final change, the entire net grand list ... will now be down 1 half percent," he said, a smaller reduction than earlier estimates.

Bullen also described other drivers of grand-list movement: Yale's purchase of 300 George Street and its conversion to 75% academic use removed assessed value from the taxable list, though the assessor noted the city will receive a pilot payment spread over the first years and will continue to receive state reimbursement treated as if the property were partially exempt. Bullen said the new veterans exemption (Substitute House Bill 4591, public act 24-46) created roughly 30 new applications and reduced the grand list by about $3,600,000.

The committee placed an ordinance amendment on the public record to adopt the revised depreciation schedule for motor vehicles. Alder DeCote moved the item and it received a favorable recommendation from the committee. The recorded motion passed by voice vote; the committee did not record an individual roll-call tally in the hearing record.

Acting City Assessor Bullen told members that the city must republish the grand list under the revised schedule and extend related notice and appeal periods by April 15 to comply with state deadlines. He offered to provide a schedule of assessment-deferral properties and to walk committee members through how those phased exemptions interact with revaluations.

Committee members asked for a projected schedule showing when major deferred-assessment projects would become fully taxable; Bullen agreed to provide a multi-year projection and a top-20 list of projects by assessed value.

The committee approved the ordinance amendment to adopt the revised depreciation schedule for motor vehicles.