Say, Cheese!––

Digitized Imaging Underway For All Newtown Property Exteriors

By Dottie Evans

Newtown residents need not be alarmed if they notice a strange man standing on their front lawns pointing a hand-held computer/imaging device in the direction of their homes and then leaving as quickly as he came.

The man’s name is David Graybosch, and he has been hired by the town –– specifically by Lesher-Glendinning Municipal Services, Inc, working under contract for Newtown Assessor Denise Hames –– to finish a job that was started more than a year ago.

His task is to complete the process of taking digital snapshots of all Newtown residences and commercial properties for the townwide revaluation conducted for the October 2002 Grand List.

“When the bad weather moved in early, we had to stop video-imaging, because it was not so easy to get around. Now we’re going to complete this as quickly as possible, hopefully in five to six weeks,” said Ms Hames speaking Monday morning from the Assessor’s Office in Edmond Town Hall.

“When Mr Graybosch is done, every house in town will have its photo stored in our database. In 1995, we didn’t have this kind of video-imaging capability. And when the next reval comes around [which will be in 2006, unless the state changes the law] we will not have to reimage. We’ll just update the photos when there are changes,” said Ms Hames.

“You could say this is the last phase of the October 2002 reval project,” she added.

The purpose of the state-mandated revaluation project was to measure Newtown property values with respect to current fair market real estate prices. After revaluation, many property assessments increased and there were a number of appeals, which were heard by the appraisal company Lesher-Glendinning’s field assessors. After the 2002 Grand List was finalized and the 2003–2004 budget was passed, the new mill rate was set and the new assessments were plugged into a formula used to determine each individual property owner’s tax bill.

While taking data for the 2002 physical revaluation, the field assessors conducted a walking tour of the exteriors of the town’s approximately 8,800 homes and 2,000 businesses. While they had only begun the physical imaging project, there was and is the need to match a current photo with the card on file for each property, being sure the address and the owner’s name are accurate and up-to-date.

“Mr Graybosch works from his car making notes if there are discrepancies, and calling our office from the road if he has any questions. Then we look it up on the map and verify the information,” Ms Hames said.

To alleviate any concerns that residents might have, she explained that Mr Graybosch would be wearing a badge and would be glad to talk to any property owner who has questions.

“He is a very polite person, and since he is representing the town, he will be doing his best not to disturb homeowners,” she added.

In addition, Ms Hames also has offered the following description of the two vehicles that Mr Graybosch has at his disposal while he will be completing the digital imaging project: A 2001 black Nissan Pathfinder with Connecticut license plate number 828-PUL; and a 1994 red Lincoln Mark VIII with Connecticut license plate number IVANAC. Both cars are registered with the Newtown Police Department.

Speaking Monday with Mr Graybosch, it was clear that he is working as quickly and as carefully as possible.

“I’m out there from 7:30 am to dark five days a week, weather permitting. I’m able to do about 250 houses a day, but when I have to get out of the vehicle and walk up driveways, it takes longer,” Mr Graybosch said.

When the project is finished, the Assessor’s Office will take possession of the handheld PDA device and its Field Assessor software program will become the property of the town of Newtown.

“Ms Hames was very smart to negotiate this into the contract,” Mr Graybosch commented.

He added that as far as he knew, no other towns in the area had completed video imaging of their properties.

Asked whether this service is costing the town additional money, Mr Graybosch said not at all.

“In fact, the contract says we have to finish this before we get final payment.”

If residents have any questions about this program, they may call the Assessor’s Office at 270-4240 or the Newtown Police at 270-4255.