Westport and other Connecticut communities will have the option of delaying property revaluation for up to three years under a bill passed by the General Assembly.
The House and Senate passed the measure Tuesday in a special session as part of an amendment tacked on to an omnibus funding bill.
The new option comes as Westport debates how to proceed on reval after receiving state permission to delay the 2003 property assessment by one year.
The Reval Working Group appointed by First Selectwoman Diane G. Farrell has indicated its preference to conduct a full physical revaluation rather than a less accurate statistical update.
The plan approved Tuesday also allows municipalities to do property revaluations less frequently than required by the current law.
A five- and 10-year cycle for revaluation will be used, rather than the current four- and eight-year cycle.
Communities will be required to do a full-scale revaluation, based on a physical inspection of property, on the fifth year and a statistical revaluation, based on market sales, on the 10th year.
The governing body of each municipality due for revaluation will decide whether to delay it and for how long.
The Representative Town Meeting (RTM) could consider the issue at its June 1 meeting.
