Council debates House Bill 7067 motor-vehicle valuation changes; assessor warns of tight timeline

The Torrington City Council spent more than an hour discussing House Bill 7067, emergency legislation the General Assembly moved this week that affects how motor vehicles are valued for local property tax purposes and corrects veteran-exemption language.

Assessor Stacy Maldonado told the council the bill allows municipalities to adopt a modified depreciation schedule for motor vehicles. Under the valuation method that produced Torrington's 2024 grand list, a shift from market-based values to MSRP plus a depreciation scale reduced Torrington's motor-vehicle grand list by $40,331,228. Maldonado said adopting the newly permitted 90% starting depreciation and 20% residual at 20 years could restore about $10,000,000 to the current grand list; she said a separate technical correction to veteran exemptions would add about $1,600,000 back into the grand list (the veteran change is not optional and is part of the bill).

Why it matters: The change alters the composition of taxable property. Maldonado and several council members said that, absent adoption of the new schedule, the city would face a large reduction in taxable motor-vehicle value that would otherwise shift the tax burden toward real property (residential and commercial). Council members also said they needed time to weigh budget implications, mill-rate effects and downstream impacts on the Board of Finance and the Board of Assessment Appeals.

Timeline and process: The bill received emergency certification, cleared the legislature rapidly, and the governor announced he intends to sign it (with a line-item veto to cut $40 million in special-education spending). If the governor signs the bill, the assessor must finalize any revised grand-list values by April 15. Maldonado asked the council for an expedited choice because reprinting and software changes would be required if the council decides to reprice motor vehicles.

Council response and next steps: Several council members said they wanted more time and a joint meeting with the Board of Finance before deciding. The mayor said staff would try to convene a special joint City Council/Board of Finance meeting (the council discussed Wednesday availability) so councilors and finance officials could review a three-column comparison (2023 values, 2024 values under the current law and the 90% option) and decide whether to adopt the 90% depreciation or take no action. There was no formal vote on the item at Monday's meeting.

Quote: "We could put approximately $10,000,000 back into the grand list," Assessor Stacy Maldonado said. "The reduction was $40,331,228 based on the legislature's change last year."

Ending: Staff will prepare comparative schedules and schedule a joint meeting with the Board of Finance; the council must act promptly if it wants to reprice the grand list before the April 15 filing deadline.