Hartford is expected to lose about $3.2 million in tax revenue as a result of a drop in the grand list, but Mayor Luke Bronin said Thursday taxes would not go up.
After two years of gains, the city’s grand list of taxable property decreased this year due largely to tax appeals and the conversion of city apartments into condominiums. The mayor said Hartford will absorb that through workforce attrition and leaving some positions vacant longer.
The list dropped to $4.03 billion, down from $4.078 billion, Bronin said Thursday. He attributed the 1 percent decrease to the 300 or so tax appeals that the city has dealt with over the past year, along with a swell of property owners who have converted apartment buildings to condos.
City buildings with four or more units are assessed as commercial property in Hartford, at 70 percent. Residential property is assessed lower, at 35 percent. For years, building owners have been reclassifying their apartments as condos in order to pay lower taxes. But in 2018, a state law was passed banning the practice. Bronin said Hartford saw a rise in conversions last summer before the new law went into effect.
“We’re obviously disappointed that there was a decrease in the grand list,” he said. “The one comforting thing is that it’s driven not by negative trends in sales, but by tax appeals and apartment conversions, which we don’t expect to see at anywhere near the same rate in the years ahead.”
Bronin delivered news of the decrease to the state oversight board Thursday at its first meeting of the year. Former Hartford budget Director Melissa McCaw, who is now secretary of the state’s Office of Policy and Management, and former Hartford city council president Shawn Wooden, who is state treasurer, are the new co-chairs of the oversight panel.
The mayor said city leaders are optimistic that in the coming years, new construction will help boost the grand list. He cited a mixed-use project planned for the crucial corner of Park and Main streets, and a court battle Hartford is embroiled in over the properties surrounding Dunkin’ Donuts Park, where the city wants to build hundreds of apartments, retail and parking garages.
“Obviously, we want to see our grand list go up and we’re working hard to get new development done,” Bronin said.
Real property dropped to $2.93 billion this year, down from $3.003 billion. Motor vehicles increased to $346.5 million, up from $330.1 million. And personal property rose to $753.6 million, up from $743.7 million.
Last year’s grand list increased only marginally, to $4.078 billion, up from $4.073 billion. But in 2017, city leaders reported a 10 percent jump – higher than any recorded in Hartford since 1989. Revaluation that year pushed commercial property values up significantly, but it also triggered a flood of tax appeals.
The city’s top taxpayers remained the same this year. Eversource Energy Co., Travelers Indemnity Co., Hartford Fire Insurance, Aetna Life Insurance Company, and RP Asylum LLC — the owner of Cityplace I on Asylum Street — took the top five spots.
Jenna Carlesso can be reached at jcarlesso@courant.com.
