2021 Enfield Revalution: Looking Back To Move Forward

Prior to my election as an Enfield Town Councilor, the 2021 Revaluation in Enfield was well underway. The previous council, and prior town administration who had hired our current assessor oversaw what was one of the most tumultuous revaluations in our town’s history. A perfect storm of changing personalities, poor communication, misapplication of law, and changing practices resulted in serious challenges for the new council to combat. As a result, the town council took unprecedented action to hire an independent law firm to analyze what had transpired.

Still today, no significant period of time passes in which I am not faced with consistent fallout and genuine concerns from taxpayers regarding the prior revaluation and other assessment practices. Like many, I initially believed what had occurred was solely miscommunication and misunderstanding, however, this was not the reality. During my time sitting in on meetings between the assessor’s office and taxpayers prior to the creation of this independent review; I witnessed clear misapplications of the law and statutes that impact our taxpayers directly, especially our farmers in regards to their PA490 status. Given that Enfield is a paramount piece to the Connecticut River Valley and one of the most pristine zip codes for farming in Connecticut, seeing our farmers be stretched so thin was unacceptable.

Following one meeting in particular, I shared my observations with others on the council and town administrators. Soon after, the PA490 statutes at issue were reinstated and the assessments adjusted accordingly. Then in March of last year I wrote to town administrators suggesting they direct the Assessors office to note that there were mistakes made with their assessments and with application of law in any subsequent communication with tax payers. I believed this was an incredibly important step towards regaining public trust. Unfortunately, this suggestion was not heeded. As such problems continued to occur eventually leading to the creation of that independent review.

Concurrently, a feud between the Board of Assessment Appeals (BAA) and the assessor’s office ensued. I witnessed both the BAA and the assessor's office over-exercise their statutory authority, to no benefit to either the taxpayers or the town of Enfield which has impeded the ability for an effective relationship between the two parties. There had been a slew of baseless conspiracy theories aimed at elected officials and others that delivered nothing to the taxpayers of Enfield or that resolved the crisis that was created. Feud aside, it is important to recognize that the existence of the BAA as a tool for taxpayers to seek relief was paramount in righting the mistakes coming from the assessor's office. Without this recourse many taxpayers and farmers would have been seriously and perhaps permanently injured.

Following the review’s finalization and release, it noted numerous instances in which the assessor’s office was not in adherence to state law. “Mostly compliant” is not fully compliant. It also detailed numerous issues regarding personal conduct toward taxpayers from the assessors office. As a councilor, and a taxpayer I expect the highest of standards of our public servants towards our taxpayers, and that opportunity was not afforded to them. Within that report are an extensive list of recommendations to ensure what had occurred before, does not occur again. It is time for the town council to act on implementation of those recommendations from the report which received bipartisan assurances that it would be carried out fairly. In addition to this, it has become heavily apparent to me that there currently is a significantly fractured relationship between the assessors office and our taxpayers. With that in mind, it is my personal belief that we cannot move forward as a town unless changes are made within that office. It is essential we regain public trust and confidence in one of the most crucial offices of our town. It is my belief that those changes coupled with the implementation of the recommendations within the report will ensure that any future revaluation will deliver a significantly smoother result that we can stand behind with confidence. Together, this will deliver a stronger Enfield.

Matt Despard
Enfield Town Councilor - District 3