Resident Challenges $1.492 million Valuation for Fields Rock Road Home, Cites Comparables and Model Concerns

At an appeals hearing March 23, the person identified only in the transcript as the appellant challenged the towns $1,492,300 assessment for a Fields Rock Road property (appeal No. 688), asking the board to reduce it to $1,250,000.

Sworn before the appeals board, the appellant said their case had "three parts" and walked members through three comparables: a nearby split-level on Warner Hill Road sold on Aug. 7, 2025; a larger colonial on Sturbridge Lane sold on July 28, 2025; and a June 3, 2025 sale on Brookside Drive. The appellant said adjustments for features such as an extra outbuilding and finished basements were relevant and that the adjusted sales better reflected market value than the towns figure.

The appellant also questioned the towns replacement-cost modeling, saying the per-square-foot rebuild figure assigned to their home (about $75/sq ft in their analysis) was substantially higher than the $362 $43/sq ft the model used for nearby ranches and split-levels. "When I looked at my house at $75 per square foot versus these other homes... they tend to be more in the $36 to $45," the appellant said, arguing that reducing that metric would lower the assessed value by roughly $100,000 after depreciation.

During cross-examination, board member Laura OBrien noted that rebuilding costs, land size and desirability (including schools and neighborhood demand) can legitimately vary and affect assessments. The appellant said they also monitor Zillow and that Zillows estimates for the property have typically ranged between $1,000,000 and $1,100,000 in recent years; the transcript records the appellant saying: "Zillow valuation comes in between $1,000,000 and $1,100,000 pretty much all the time over the last couple of years."

OBrien reminded the appellant that the single member hearing the case will forward the record to the full board, which will decide whether to change the assessment. No decision was announced at the hearing.