CT- Sex offender's Southbury neighbors want assessments reduced

This article claims that RSOs in close proximity cause property values to be reduced. First, the article omits that effective 2007 there is a new standard for assessing property values that was used by Total Valuation Services when they did their assessments. Second, the study mentioned is flawed in that researchers failed to consider ALL the normal things that cause property values to decrease and attributed the decrease to RSOs who lived nearby.
2-21-2008 Connecticut:

SOUTHBURY -- Mark Lynch's new neighbor spent nearly 25 years in prison for rape. His family's safety notwithstanding, he worries about another concern: whether anyone will buy his raised ranch when the time comes to sell.

Lynch and 24 other homeowners in the Fox Run Drive area believe their property values dropped last fall when David Pollitt moved to his sister's home in their neighborhood.

They tried but can't force Pollitt out, so they've asked the town to reduce their property tax assessments by as much as 17 percent. They argue the presence of a registered sex offender has negatively impacted the sale price of their homes, especially because anyone can go online and find out that he lives there.

Their request for a property tax reduction may be the first of its kind in Connecticut, said Carolyn Nadeau, president of the Connecticut Association of Assessing Officers and tax assessor for Bethlehem and Watertown.

"I've never had an instance like this," she said. "Any number of times there are distractions that people feel negatively impact their property values, such as unsightly blight, but we haven't seen this."

Total Valuation Services, the company that put new values on all properties in Southbury last fall, rejected the residents' plea for help on a technicality this month. The new home values went into effect with the Oct. 1, 2007, grand list. Pollitt didn't move to Southbury until Oct. 12.

"This was not something they could take into consideration," said Michael Moriarty, Southbury's assessor. "We are charged under Connecticut law to value as of Oct. 1. We have to stop as of that point in time. We believe we are complying with that law."

Undeterred, the homeowners are taking their case to the Board of Assessment Appeals, which meets in March to hear arguments from taxpayers who think their real estate or motor vehicle assessments are too high. Lynch, who lives next door to Pollitt's sister, believes the residents are owed a property tax break.

"If I wanted to sell my house tomorrow morning, how many people would want to buy it?" said Lynch, whose seven-room raised ranch on nearly 1 acre is assessed at $243,080.

The residents, who live on Fox Run Drive, Wolf Pit Drive and Forest Park Road, are relying on a 2000 study by researchers at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio, which studied approximately 3,200 home transactions in Montgomery County, Ohio. They found that, on average, houses located within one-tenth of a mile of a registered sex offender sold for 17.4 percent less than similar houses located farther away. ..more.. by CHRIS GARDNER REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN