Revaluation Costs Lead to Questions for Board of Finance

Revaluation is expected to lead to dramatic increases in the costs for the Board of Assessment Appeals during the 2011-12 fiscal year, but a proposal calling for a 1,233 percent increase in wages for members has drawn ire from members of the Board of Finance.

Finance board members John Moise and Edward Pocock Jr. questioned the increase during a Board of Finance budget workshop at Southington Town Hall Tuesday evening. They said without a breakdown, it’s hard to justify supporting those kind of costs.

“That kind of money is an awful lot to be paying out, that’s why John [Moise] requested a breakdown and it’s a request I fully support,” Pocock said. “I have an issue with a request like that without knowing who is being paid and why.”

The line item in the town manager’s proposed 2011-12 budget calls for a $20,000 account to pay temporary salaries to members of the assessment board, up from a $1,500 budget during the current fiscal year. To date the town has spent just $750 of that.

Town Manager Garrison C. Brumback had already reduced the 2011-12 request by $10,000.

Southington Town Assessor Brian Lastra said the reason for the increase is an expected jump in the number of assessment appeals when homeowners learn the new value of their homes as revaluation is completed later this year.

“During the last evaluation, we spent upwards of $17,000 above the usual in hearing appeals,” Lastra said. “In a down market, there is hope that much spending won’t be necessary but we need to be prepared.”

Moise requested that Lastra detail the pay given to each of the members of the assessment board. There are three members who are given a stipend based on the number of appeals they have, but the exact stipend was not immediately available Tuesday night.

Tuesday’s workshop did not simply focus on the board, however, but also led to discussions of a new computer program that will enhance operations for the Assessment Department.

 Lastra said the town’s system, which was installed in the 1980s, is antiquated and the new program would allow for a quicker, more detailed database that would eventually be able to interface with other town technology to provide better service and off-site service to customers.

The entire project comes at a cost of $112,275, with the town committing to a down payment of $19,995 during the current fiscal year. An additional $92,270 is needed to complete the purchase.

“We are attacking a system here that is obsolete and antiquated. It’s due,” Brumback said.