Owner of Most Expensive Home in Fairfield Suing Over New Property Assessment

Also, Pine Creek Residents Plan Protest Tuesday Outside Old Town Hall
Karin S. Jack, who owns the most expensive home in Fairfield with her husband, Bradley Jack, is suing the town over their new property assessment. The Jacks' house at 1144 Sasco Hill Road, which stands on 20 waterfront acres, was assessed in the recent townwide revaluation at $24.2 million, an increase of $1 million over the prior assessment of $23.2 million. The new assessment gives the Jacks' house a market value of $34.6 million. Due to the lower assessments on many houses in Fairfield - and the resulting dramatic increase in the town's tax rate for the next fiscal year - the Jacks' tax bill in 2011-12 will total $543,847, an increase of $96,782 over their current tax bill of $447,065. Karin Jack contends in a lawsuit filed in Bridgeport Superior Court that the $24.2 million assessment is "grossly excessive, disproportionate, and unlawful."
Jack in the lawsuit said she appealed the new assessment to the town's Board of Assessment Appeals, but the board denied her appeal and made no change to the assessment.
Jack, represented by attorney Matthew R. Paul of Fairfield's Southport neighborhood and Kurt W. Hansson of New York, are asking a judge to reduce the valuation and assessment on her and her husband's house and have the town reimburse any overpayment of taxes.
Meanwhile, homeowners in the town's Pine Creek neighborhood have planned a protest outside Old Town Hall at 11 a.m. Tuesday due to their new property assessments. Tuesday's protest comes on the heels of a protest May 23 at the Representative Town Meeting. READ MORE: http://fairfield.patch.com/articles/owner-of-most-expensive-home-in-fairfield-suing-over-new-property-assessment