A Connecticut Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Bank of America in a property tax dispute with the Town of West Hartford, reducing the appraised value of the bank’s downtown branch by about $353,000. Judge Matthew J. Budzik issued a memorandum of decision Sept. 26, determining the fair market value of Bank of America’s […]
A Connecticut Superior Court judge ruled in favor of Bank of America in a property tax dispute with the Town of West Hartford, reducing the appraised value of the bank's downtown branch by about $353,000.
Judge Matthew J. Budzik issued a memorandum of decision Sept. 26, determining the fair market value of Bank of America's property at 4 North Main St. to be $4,065,706 as of the Oct. 1, 2021 assessment date.
The town's assessor had valued the property at $4,419,200.
The decision concludes a tax appeal filed by Bank of America on May 20, 2022, after the town's Board of Assessment Appeals denied the bank's request for a lower valuation. The case went to trial July 22 in the Judicial District of New Britain's Tax and Administrative Appeals Session.
C. Scott Schwefel — of Shipman, Shaiken & Schwefel LLC in West Hartford — represented Bank of America. Michael C. Collins of Halloran & Sage LLP in Hartford represented the town.
The property sits on 1.07 acres in West Hartford's central business district and features a nearly 16,000-square-foot building constructed in 1927 and expanded in 1971. The facility houses a 3,600-square-foot Bank of America branch and more than 12,000 square feet of back-office space.
Two competing appraisals presented vastly different valuations. Gregory Curtis, testifying for the bank, appraised the property at $3,460,000. Chris Kerin, the town's appraiser, valued it at $5,100,000.
Budzik rejected the comparable sales approach used by both appraisers, citing the "relatively unique nature of West Hartford Center." The court noted the property is in West Hartford Center, and none of the comparable sales reflected its unique location in the busy retail area.
The court opted to use an “income approach,” which the judge said was more appropriate for valuing the property.
Budzik sided with Kerin's net operating income calculation of $304,928, but applied a 7.5% capitalization rate, splitting the difference between Curtis's 8.25% rate and Kerin's 6.5% rate.
The court also favored Kerin's 5% vacancy rate over Curtis's 10% rate.
In his decision, Budzik wrote that the 7.5% capitalization rate "best reflects the relatively low economic risk faced by the subject property as balanced against the risk created by a degree of functional obsolescence in the subject building."
Taxes on the property will now be assessed at 70% of the court-determined fair market value, according to the decision.
