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Board of Assessment Appeals appoints officers, adjusts several assessments and exemptions
Summary
The Litchfield Board of Assessment Appeals appointed a chair and secretary and resolved multiple appeals March 18, 2026, reducing or removing assessments for several businesses, assigning a $500 mechanics-tools exemption, and directing an acreage correction for one parcel.
The Litchfield Board of Assessment Appeals at a March 18, 2026 session appointed Cleve Fuessenich as chairman and Gayle Carr as secretary, and reviewed a slate of property appeals that produced several assessment adjustments and administrative directions.
Gayle Carr moved to appoint Cleve Fuessenich as chairman; Jesse Nivolo seconded and the motion passed unanimously. Cleve Fuessenich then moved to appoint Gayle Carr as secretary; Jesse Nivolo seconded and that motion also passed unanimously. The meeting recessed at 5:50 p.m. and reconvened at 6:00 p.m.
On appeals, the board took a mix of actions. The assessment for Compass Stoneworks LLC, represented by agent Sarah Kathryn Fenn, was adjusted to $0 after the board found no personal property at the Bantam Road location and noted the business declares taxes at its Wolcott headquarters. The board reduced the appraised value of Kathleen White’s massage-office contents from $7,190 to $450; Chairman Cleve Fuessenich and member Jesse Nivolo voted in favor while Gayle Carr abstained, and the assessor will set the final assessment. The board revised the appraisal for EZ Outdoor Services (Edward Zawislak) from $5,040 to $900 and directed the assessor to set the assessment.
Rich Nelson Builder received a $500 mechanics-tools exemption. The board indicated unanimous support for restoring an open-space designation for the Bushey property on Old Mount Tom Road “if it is within the authority of the Board of Assessment Appeals to restore their open space designation without lapse.” For Austin Peluso’s parcel at 137 Buell Road the board left assessed and appraised values unchanged but directed the assessor to correct the recorded land area to 1.187 acres (previously shown as 1.69 acres).
Owners Kimberly Fischer and Edward Fisher were offered the opportunity to provide appraisals to substantiate adjustments for two North Lake Street parcels; no change was made at the meeting. An appeal filed on behalf of Jason Basti produced no change. Appellant Erik Koniger did not appear and no change was recorded. Litchfield Country Club, represented by Jeff Maddox and Tammara McMahon, contested a statutorily set late-filing penalty; the board requested legal authority from the appellant to justify changing the penalty.
The minutes record the meeting as adjourned at 9:10 p.m. and are attested by Gayle C. Carr as secretary.
