Newington Board of Assessment Appeals hears 13 property owners, cuts assessments on several parcels.

Board of Assessment Appeals · Meeting of March 30, 2026

CT NEWINGTON — Newington's Board of Assessment Appeals granted reductions on several properties and denied most residential challenges during a four-hour March 30 session. The board, working with town Assessor Danielle, cut the assessed value of hotel property at 1583 Southeast Road to a market value of $15,075,550 after the assessor recalculated income-and-expense figures using a 15-percent vacancy rate rather than the 10 percent applied by revaluation firm Equality Valuation Services. A partially completed new construction received a reduction to $248,360 after the board reclassified an unheated mudroom and revised the bathroom count; the property had received a certificate of occupancy despite lacking a completed second bathroom and kitchen cabinetry.

A property at 201 Schoolhouse Road — where the owner described a tagged heating system, active roof leaks, cracked structural walls, and rotted floors — was moved to a fair/D condition classification, producing an assessed value of $166,320. Three Stop and Shop plaza parcels at 96 Kits Lane were denied relief because no full appraisal or income-and-expense statement was submitted. The board also canceled its March 31 meeting after completing all pending business, with the next session set for September 23, 2026.

In the full story:

• The complete report — 1,273 words

Source: the Board of Assessment Appeals meeting of March 30, 2026, reported from the official video recording and transcript.

NEWINGTON — March 30, 2026 — The Newington Board of Assessment Appeals spent more than four hours hearing appeals from residential and commercial property owners challenging assessments set during the town's 2025 revaluation, issuing reductions on several properties while denying relief on others.

The three-member board, working with town Assessor Danielle, moved through a packed session that included single-family homes, a commercial strip plaza anchored by a Stop and Shop, a hotel, and an affordable housing complex. The board also voted unanimously to cancel its previously scheduled March 31 meeting after completing all pending business, and approved minutes from six prior sessions.

The Full Story

The appeals session reflected widespread property owner frustration with the 2025 general revaluation conducted by Equality Valuation Services, which the board heard had produced average increases of roughly 42 percent townwide — though several appellants reported their individual increases ran well above that figure. One appellant at 18 6th Street reported his assessment had risen 47 percent. An appellant at 18 6th Street, who built his home in the early 1980s and has documented wetlands issues and chronic sump-pump cycling on his property, asked the board to reduce his assessment from $315,700 to $280,700. After deliberation, the board denied the appeal, noting the property already carries a wetlands adjustment and that its condition rating appeared consistent with neighboring properties.

The board granted a reduction for a property at 56 Brentwood, after Assessor Danielle identified a measurement discrepancy in the property's sketch. Using revised square footage of approximately 1,654 square feet — down from the 1,762 the town had on record — along with comparable no-basement ranch sales on nearby streets, the board set a new market value of $320,500 and a new assessment of $224,350.

For 49 Berkeley, the board adjusted the condition grade downward from good/very good to good/very good after finding the property's rating appeared inconsistent with the predominant C-plus grades on the rest of the street. That adjustment produced a new 100-percent value of $340,900 and a new assessment of $238,630.

At 201 Schoolhouse Road, the board heard an unusually distressed situation: the appellant, a single father, described a home with a condemned heating system tagged by Connecticut Natural Gas, active roof leaks, cracked and sinking structural walls, rotting floors, and bathrooms that cannot be used. He said he has been living in a single room for three winters, relying on a space heater, and is fighting his homeowners insurance company over a $23,000 repair estimate it has refused to pay in full. The board moved the property's condition classification to fair/D, producing a market value of $237,600 and an assessed value of $166,320.

"I couldn't list the house for 200. People are asking how this guy says this much money." [No timestamp index supplied] — Appellant, 201 Schoolhouse Road

The board also addressed a partially completed new construction at an address identified in deliberation as being on a street discussed in the context of a recent building permit. The property received a certificate of occupancy despite lacking a completed second bathroom, kitchen cabinets and countertops, and heat in a mudroom. The board voted to adjust the assessment to $248,360 by revising the room count and reclassifying the unheated mudroom as an enclosed porch.

For the Stop and Shop parcel at 96 Kits Lane — part of a plaza purchased for $17 million and reassessed at $10,359,930 — the board denied the appeal after Assessor Danielle advised that no full appraisal had been submitted and the sale price covered the entire multi-parcel plaza, not the Stop and Shop portion alone. The board applied the same logic to two companion parcels in the same plaza and denied all three.

"Without a full I-and-E to be able to see what's included, we can't make a decision." [No timestamp index supplied] — Assessor Danielle

For 1583 Southeast Road, a hotel property, the board made a substantive adjustment. Assessor Danielle recalculated the income-and-expense analysis using a 15-percent vacancy rate rather than the 10 percent Equality had applied — a figure she said was too low based on room data she obtained directly from the property — producing a market value of $15,075,550 and a new assessment of that amount divided by the applicable assessment ratio.

"I reached out to them and asked what rooms do you have, what kind of rooms are they, and what is going right now for those rooms, and they did give that to me." [No timestamp index supplied] — Assessor Danielle

A personal property appeal for a hotel was also resolved: the board voted to set a new assessment of $664,608 based on amended personal property declarations submitted by the property owner.

Three appellants at 633, 641, and 649 Willard Avenue were dismissed for failing to appear. The board approved minutes for sessions held March 2, 9, 11, 16, 19, and 23, 2026, and adjourned at 7:49 p.m.

Why It Matters

The 2025 revaluation raised assessed values across Newington by an average of roughly 42 percent, according to figures cited at the meeting, with some residential properties seeing increases above 67 percent. Because the town's mill rate will not be set until the end of April — when the Town Council finalizes the municipal budget — property owners do not yet know what their actual tax bills will be. Several appellants expressed frustration at being unable to calculate their future tax liability. The board's decisions on assessment reductions will directly affect that calculation for the properties where reductions were granted. Appellants who disagree with the board's rulings were advised their next recourse is Superior Court.

Key Motions & Votes

- Vote: Deny appeal for 96 Kits Lane (Stop and Shop parcel) — no full appraisal submitted Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Deny appeal for companion plaza parcel (Joey Garlics/larger retail parcel) Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Deny appeal for third plaza parcel — no supporting P&L submitted Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Approve new personal property assessment of $664,608 Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Adjust 1583 Southeast Road assessment to $15,075,550 market value Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Deny appeal for 18 6th Street Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Deny appeal for 1310 Main Street Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Deny appeal for 145 Nicholson Street Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Adjust 201 Schoolhouse Road assessment to new assessed value of $166,320 (market value $237,600, fair/D condition) Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Adjust partially completed new construction assessment to $248,360 Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Adjust 124 Goodale (condition to fair) — new market value $273,000, assessment $189,210 Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Adjust 56 Brentwood assessment to $224,350 (market value $320,500) Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Adjust 49 Berkeley assessment to $238,630 (market value $340,900) Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Deny appeal for 276 Boylston Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Deny appeal for 33 (street address partially unclear in transcript) Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Deny appeal for 91 Barkledge Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Dismiss no-show appeals for 633, 641, and 649 Willard Avenue Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Cancel March 31, 2026 meeting Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Approve minutes — March 2, 2026 Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Approve minutes — March 9, 2026 Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Approve minutes — March 11, 2026 Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Approve minutes — March 16, 2026 Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Approve minutes — March 19, 2026 Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Approve minutes — March 23, 2026 Tally: Approved unanimously

- Vote: Adjourn Tally: Approved unanimously

Source

Newington's community access TV: Board of Assessment Appeals meeting, March 30, 2026