In a few weeks Mayor Joe Ganim will submit the first budget of JG2 to the City Council based on a new reduced grand list of taxable property 15 percent lower than last year, according to city bean counters. Does that mean the current mil rate of roughly 42 will grow by 15 percent to fund city services? Finance Director Ken Flatto says taxpayers can expect a mixed bag of some tax bills going down, some up while others stay about the same.
A new addition to the grand list for the budget year starting July 1 is the Steel Point redevelopment area of the East Side led by Bass Pro Shops as the anchor tenant. Projected revenues from Steelpointe Harbor, as it’s formally known, have been largely a mystery based on a land disposition agreement between the city and Bridgeport Landing Development led by the Christoph family that enjoys development credentials under its mother ship Miami-based RCI Group.
Sometimes you’ve gotta sell the store in the short term to cement a longer-term financial windfall, but the mayoral administration of Bill Finch never made clear the economics of the development deal other than to say in the long term it will generate hundreds of jobs and millions in tax revenues when fully complete.
Bass Pro Shops and Starbucks Coffee, for instance, are tenants of the development site controlled by Bridgeport Landing. Starting July 1 the companies will pay personal property taxes to the city that cover valuable assets such as equipment, office furnishings, coffee machines, computers, etc.
Following a Freedom of Information request by OIB, city officials say Bass Pro personal property has been assessed at $814,393 and Starbucks Coffee $132,341. The mil rate is likely to increase July 1, but based on the current rate Bass Pro would pay $34,365 in personal property taxes, Starbucks Coffee would pay $5,584.
Two years ago, following a downturn in the economy, Finch prevailed upon Governor Dan Malloy and the state legislature to delay state-mandated revaluation of taxable property to avoid a potential nightmare in an election year. Finch did not want to risk taking heat via an implemented reval.
Connecticut law requires all real estate to be revalued for assessment purposes every five years to bring about uniformity in property values and ensuring everyone pays their fair share, or so it goes. Your tax bill is a function of your property assessment based on 70 percent of value. As a general rule the mil rate approved by the City Council will spike to make up for the reduced assessments in order to fund the budget proposed by the mayor.
JG1 received reval delays as well from the legislature. Ganim, upon election in 2015, decided to implement revaluation.
The budget he submits early April will be reviewed by the City Council’s Budget and Appropriations Committee. The full City Council will set a mil rate in June for the budget year starting July 1.
That’s the personal property assessment. What’s the property tax assessment on Land and Buildings?
The land and buildings are in tax abatement status. I think it’s 20 years. Steelepointe is also a separate tax district from the rest of the city.
They wanted a 40-year tax abatement.
Nine days ago, OIB featured an article based on a City press release from Av Harris. It featured the following list of City property owners with the highest assessments:
“News release from Harris:
The 2015 Bridgeport property tax revaluation is now complete, below is the grand list assessment of city properties. Overall, the total assessed taxable grand list in Bridgeport stands at $6,041,621,208–a figure approximately 15% lower than the total assessed taxable grand list property valuation for Bridgeport in 2014 which stood at $7,149,521,127. In raw dollars, the total assessed taxable property values in Bridgeport declined by just over $1 Billion dollars as a result of the revaluation, the first revaluation since 2008. Here is a breakdown of the new taxable grand list assessment:
“Combined Top 20 Real Estate Taxpayers
Taxpayer Assessment
CRRA/US Bank Nat assoc James E. Mogavero $153,984,140
Peoples United Bank $37,832,560
PSEG Power Connecticut LLC $25,154,120
Watermark 3030 Park LLC $23,434,710
Success Village Apts Inc $21,706,740
Brookside (E&A) LLC $16,624,720
Bridgeport Lafayette 2005 LLC $12,510,090
BLD Parcel I Owner LLC $12,049,790
RDR Mob Ground LLC $10,488,270
Remo Tartaglia Associates LLC $9,489,430
CU-Bridgeport Limited $9,220,380
Fairbridge Commons LLC $9,153,440
Sprague Connecticut Properties LLC $9,105,810
Bridgeport Energy LLC $9,093,840
2500 SS Limited Partnership $8,852,880
1070 Hotel Partnership $8,613,080
Bridgeport Towers LLC $8,417,600
Stratfield Apts LLC $7,912,520
Bridgeport Phase 1Owner LLC $7,509,700
Extra Space Properties Forty Five LLC $7,381,200”
The assessments on the “highest 20 valued properties in Bridgeport” total about $960 Million (after the revaluation I must assume) because the latest list of taxable assessed values was distributed as part of the CAFR-2015 on February 15, 2016 (page 112).
That list of the taxable assessed values of the TOP TEN properties totaled nearly $949 Million. You may say these commercial properties did not reduce by much. However when you begin to look at the decreases in TOP 10 properties like United Illuminating Co, Inc, Connecticut Light and Power, Dominion Bpt Fuel Cell LLC, Southern CT Gas Co. Energy EA, and Wheelabrator BPT LP, none of which show up in the current top 20 announced by Harris, you may question the accuracy of the information.
For instance, those five entities had assessments totaling almost $440 Million in the CAFR. Did each of those assessments averaging about $88 Million, fall below the 21st spot on Harris’ list at $7,300,000 approximately? Probably not, I will guess. So what is happening here?
Most importantly the Wheelabrator operation that is listed in the CAFR 2015 in two of the top 10 positions for total “taxable assessed value” of $323 Million is still in court with the City expert maintaining a higher property valuation, and a higher 70% assessment value. What is going on in this case? Where can the public see a list of all properties in the City and see what is 100% taxable and then see all the other properties in the City no matter the ownership, Federal, State, City owned and used, City owned but ready to sell, Hospitals and Universities with PILOT revenues, churches and not for profits with no revenue and other partially taxed properties because of abatement arrangements? If good taxpaying is based on fairness throughout the system, Bridgeport has a long way to go at this moment in time to be transparent with the system, to be open with the information and to be accountable for backing up data and statements they release, in my opinion. By the way my property assessment increased by 1% and I requested and filed for a review meeting, so I have skin in the game as many of you do. Do you think all the companies that dropped off the list had representatives who convinced the City the Vision valuations were in error and required reduction? Do you think there is another explanation? Will you share your opinion? Time will tell.
Two Boots Chewed and Screwed Bridgeport out of 40 large. Ain’t that a kick in the ass!
Lennie,
What good does is do to run an article on a major development becoming a part of the tax rolls when previous administrations have allowed DOLLARS DUE THE CITY to be ignored FOR YEARS?
Whether it’s a net half million dollars in Police overtime due the City for Vibes sessions, a measly $40,000 or so for business personal property, or unpaid rents for City leased properties, it is money that is due. Perhaps the privilege of doing business with the City ought to have a price attached in terms of publicity. If you are 180 days or more overdue in taxes, fees, or other obligations to the City (which causes the City to use tax anticipation notes with a marketing cost and interest), we could place the names on a section of the City web site for everyone to note. Things just might get cleaned up more regularly. Embarrassment on the part of businesses or many politicians can work wonders. Time will tell.
The JG2 Administration needs to reassess Bridgeport’s revenue/taxbase situation in terms of what’s best for Bridgeport, not what’s best for the region. We have the votes. We are the regional political/economic hub, if we want to be.
It is still early in the game for the JG2 Administration, but it is a very critical state/federal election year and we have to use this opportune time wisely by leveraging our power in our favor and speaking in terms of what’s good for Bridgeport. We must trade votes for dollars, respect, and political support, not necessarily in that order.
We need to rethink our ineffectual redevelopment policy and resonate with the rest of the country in pursuing the rebuilding of the American economy into the wealth-generating behemoth it used to be, through the proven, reindustrialization/manufacturing route.
Presently, we are a credit-dependent, wealth-consuming, debtor nation. The symptoms of that socioeconomically untenable condition are Bridgeport, Detroit, Flint, et al.
Now that JG2 has an opportunity to assert Bridgeport’s power on the tailwind of national/state elections, the new administration must work with the Bridgeport DTC to secure the national, state and regional support of a new Bridgeport agenda that isn’t married to the “servant’s quarters” plans for Bridgeport that are currently being forced on us by Hartford and Washington. It is a sure sign we are not on the road to economic recovery when we can’t see beyond waterfront power plants and Stamford-serving workforce (“transit-related”) housing as development options for Bridgeport.
I am still hopeful for the JG2 Administration, but the whole PSEG powerplant fiasco, as well as the East Side train station euphoria, neither of which are going to happen, anyway, give me pause in regard to optimism for Bridgeport’s revival. We are still thinking timidly and small, bowing and scraping to the region, when we should be thinking big, bad, and boldly.
I’m still hearing the economic development chants from the last administration. New choir/chorus, but same old songs.
How about some “new-wave Bridgeport” JG2!
*** I see Bass Pro leaving Bpt after their tax abatement is over, no? ***
Way before that, Mojo. We should be looking for another ship-building company, or something requiring a similar location/facilities for that area. There is already appropriate infrastructure in place. (Various types of hydraulic, green alternative energy equipment could be manufactured/tested there. Germany, England and Japan are making great strides in this area, which could become an important part of our energy future and a great manufacturing opportunity for us. We could employ such equipment here, instead of huge fossil fuel plants or fuel-cell plants dependent on potential manufacturing space and fossil fuels.)