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Council approves 4-year assessment extension for 259 Hartford Turnpike storage facility
Summary
Tollands council authorized a multi-year extension to the tax assessment schedule for a self-storage facility at 259 Hartford Turnpike, amended to a four-year agreement so the extension ends before the towns next revaluation.
The Tolland Town Council on Oct. 14 approved a revised assessment-agreement extension for the self-storage facility at 259 Hartford Turnpike, authorizing the town manager to execute a multi-year agreement that freezes portions of the propertys assessed value over a four-year schedule.
Planner David Corcoran told the council the property originally entered a five-year agreement and that the business had made substantial remediation and capital investments to convert the former register building into a storage facility. The Economic Development Commission recommended extension to support a locally operating business, Corcoran said.
Assessor Jason Lawrence reviewed occupancy data and valuation analysis for the council and said his office believes the propertys assessment is near stabilized. Lawrence noted the towns evaluation showed stabilization at roughly a 91.7% occupancy level, and was candid that valuations for commercial property types such as self-storage require careful review.
Owner John Hettinger told councilors the business faced an unusually difficult lease-up period after receiving its certificate of occupancy in March 2020 amid the pandemic and that the national change in housing and migration patterns had reduced demand for storage in the short term. "Were trying to be thoughtful and measured with this, because we would like to be operating in Tolland for a long time," Hettinger told the council.
Staff presented the estimated fiscal impact of the extension: roughly $13,000 in foregone tax revenue in the first year and about $7,000 in the second year (around $20,000 combined) if current mill rates remain roughly the same, staff said; the exact figures can vary with changes in the mill rate and revaluation outcomes.
Councilors discussed a staff recommendation to limit the extension so it does not span the towns next revaluation. After discussion the council adopted an amended extension that fixes specified assessed values for year 1 and year 2 and holds those values for years 3 and 4, with the councils intent that the extension end before the next revaluation period.
The motion to approve the amended four-year schedule was adopted at the meeting. Staff said the action is intended to preserve local economic activity while protecting the towns tax base from an indefinite multi-year deferral.
Action summary and next steps: the council authorized the town manager to finalize an assessment-agreement extension for 259 Hartford Turnpike amended to four years; staff will finalize the agreement language and return any final or ministerial documents to the manager for signature.
