2026 Revaluation Project

The first phase starts fall of 2025. A variety of resources are used to analyze the real estate market. While the sales data are being collected, appraisal personnel will be inspecting all parcels and analyzing recent sales that take place ahead of the October 1^st revaluation date to determine which market factors influenced property values.

Inspections

In order to ensure continued accuracy in the data, data collectors will go to recently sold properties and physically inspect the exterior and interior. The data collector will note a building’s size, condition, quality of construction, improvements, topography, utilities, and numerous other characteristics.

Full property inspections (interior & exterior) are required once every ten years by Connecticut General Statute §12-62.  While we encourage physical inspections to ensure the most accurate property assessment, participation is voluntary. If an inspection is not permitted, our team will rely on available data to estimate both the exterior and interior property details.  Please note that without an inspection, there’s a possibility the assessment may not accurately reflect the property’s current condition.

Additionally, Revaluation staff have been tasked with updating the photographs of real estate parcels in town. Data Collectors will take the necessary photographs of the property exteriors.

All data collectors will be wearing reflective clothing, have an “Assessor’s Office” sign posted in the vehicle window and their cars will be registered with the Police Department as well as with the Assessor’s Office in Town Hall.

Once all the data is collected and reviewed for accuracy, the appraiser will determine land values and set neighborhood site indexes, that rate the desirability of locations throughout the town.

While the data collection phase is being conducted, Appraisers will be studying the property sales and determining where the actual increases and decreases in value are occurring. This study of property sales beginning 12 months prior to October 1, 2026 allows for comparisons to be made and allows the Appraisers to establish parameters to estimate the value of properties that have not been sold. The Appraisers then review this collected data and apply the determining factors of the sales analysis to value each property.

• The validation and analysis of property sales.
• The valuation of each property by way of the sales or market comparison approach.
• Developing valuation tables for models that will be applied by the computer assisted mass appraisal system (CAMA system).
•  Neighborhood-delineation.

There are three approaches to value when valuing real property: cost, income, and sales or market comparison. The sales or market comparison approach is the most applicable for residential properties.

The sales or market comparison approach compares the subject property to similar properties that sold and are in the CAMA sales analysis file representing arms-length transactions of sales within a timeframe of one to three years of revaluation.  The values of the sale properties are adjusted to reflect the inferior or superior difference in their features and characteristics to the subject property.  The CAMA system performs this by statistical analysis.

The necessity of neighborhood-delineation is to form a basis for modeling.  For example, a waterfront community located within a municipality with homes on the water would have a market profile similar to each other but different from the other homes in that area that are not on the water.   

A model is a representation that explains the relationship between value as an estimated sale price and variables representing market factors, such as the number of bathrooms, bedrooms, etc.  CAMA uses a property’s data description to determine what a property would probably sale for with certain characteristics in a particular geographic area.

A notice of updated values will be mailed to each property owner in November 2026. At this time, anyone with questions concerning their property value or revaluation process or the data contained within their property record have an opportunity to meet with a member of the revaluation company or assessor’s office to discuss their concerns.  The hearings provide another level of quality control to the revaluation process.

The informal conferences provide the property owner with an opportunity to obtain an explanation as to how their property was valued and to question the valuation if they feel it is inaccurate.  The conferences provide another level of quality control in the revaluation process.  If the municipality has incorrect data about a property characteristic such as an additional bathroom, the final value would not be as accurate as it could be with the correct data.  The informal conferences may result in valuation changes reflecting information discovered by way of the informal conferences. 

The conferences are not a forum to discuss taxation; it is not a basis for a reduction of an assessment and is never helpful to the appeal process.

A Revaluation is the process of conducting the Data Collection and Market Analysis necessary to equalize the values of all properties within a municipality for the purpose of a fair distribution of the tax burden.

The Town of West Hartford, which conducted its last town-wide revaluation for the Grand List of October 1, 2021, must conduct its next town wide revaluation for the Grand List of October 1, 2026.

Vision Government Solutions Inc. of Hudson, MA is assisting the town with the residential component of the 2026 revaluation, while Municipal Valuation Services, LLC of Fairfield, CT is providing support with the commercial property portion of the revaluation project.

Revaluation is mandated by Connecticut General Statute Sec. §12-62 stating that revaluations must occur every 5 years.

The Town of West Hartford completed its last revaluation project on October 1, 2021. Meanwhile, constantly changing economic conditions have resulted in the development of inequities. These inequities are remedied by reappraising all properties to reflect 2026 market levels.  Revaluations are performed to return all property values to market levels existing at the time they are conducted.

A fee appraiser appraises only one property at a time. The appraisal is done for a specific reason, such as purchase, refinance, estate valuation, etc. The date of the appraisal is typically the day it is appraised.

A revaluation uses mass appraisal methods and techniques, meaning we appraise many properties at once. Mass appraisals are typically conducted for property tax purposes. The effective valuation date in Connecticut is October 1 of the revaluation year, which is 2026 for the Town of West Hartford.

The first phase starts fall of 2025. A variety of resources are used to analyze the real estate market. While the sales data are being collected, appraisal personnel will be inspecting all parcels and analyzing recent sales that take place ahead of the October 1st revaluation date to determine which market factors influenced property values. Once all the data is collected and reviewed for accuracy, the appraiser will determine land values and set neighborhood site indexes, that rate the desirability of locations throughout the town.

While the data collection phase is being conducted, Appraisers will be studying property sales and determining where the actual increases and decreases in value are occurring. This study of property sales allows for comparisons to be made and allows the Appraisers to establish parameters to estimate the value of properties that have not been sold. The Appraisers then review this collected data and apply the determining factors of the sales analysis to value each property.

While property inspections are requested, they are not mandated. If a person chooses not to allow access, the Assessor’s office representatives will estimate your property’s exterior and interior property data using the best information available. If data is estimated, this may result in an inaccurate assessment, which can complicate future property sales. Sales of properties with inaccurate data listed on the public record can often be problematic for sellers. The accuracy of your October 1, 2026 property assessments will depend on the quality of both market data and physical property information.

Market Value is determined by the activity of people in the Real Estate Market and in the general economy.  The value of your property is based on an analysis of the entire market for the 12 months prior to October 1, 2026. The market can generally be defined as you, the person who sold the property, and the person willing to buy it from you.

It is the appraiser’s job to research and analyze the values in any particular area or neighborhood.  In effect, they do what you would do to determine the selling price when putting your property up for sale. The appraiser has specific guidelines to follow.  Some factors that are examined for each property are location, land and improvement sizes, construction quality, improvement age, topography, zoning restrictions, if any, and utilities present and available to a site, although many other factors external and internal to a property are analyzed as well.

There are differences between individual properties and between neighborhoods. In one area, the sales may indicate a substantial change in value in a given year. In another neighborhood, there may be less change in property values. Different types of properties within the same neighborhood may also show different value changes. For example, one-story houses may be more in demand than two-story houses or vice versa. A few examples of factors that will cause values to differ are: location, condition, living area, dwelling quality, number of baths, basement finish, and garages.

Property owners will receive individual notices of new assessments November 2026. They can then review all new assessed values in order to determine property market and valuation trends.

All property owners are given the opportunity to discuss their values with West Hartford’s appraisal staff and Vision Government Solutions staff during Informal Hearings at appointed times to be announced towards the end of the Revaluation.

At individual Informal Hearings, property owners will have an opportunity to voice concerns and discuss inaccuracies or discrepancies with a qualified staff appraiser who will review property record cards and explain values. The appraiser will determine whether or not a re-inspection and/or valuation change is in order, and the property owner will be notified of the review results.

Starting with the October 1, 2026 Grand List. These assessments will be used to calculate taxes due in July 2027 with a new mill rate to be determined in approximately Late April/May of 2027.

Though a revaluation may result in an increase or decrease of individual assessments, it does not mean that all property taxes will increase. Assessments are only the base that is used to determine the tax burden.

The tax burden is the amount that a municipality must raise to operate the local government and support services such as education, public safety and health, public works, libraries, parks, etc. during a fiscal year.