As you may have seen in the local press, Habitat CFC is appealing a recent denial of tax-exempt status for the properties we own in the City of Bridgeport. Habitat CFC remains a qualifying 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with the IRS; however, the City of Bridgeport is challenging whether the properties we own in Bridgeport qualify for tax exemption.
Since our founding in 1985, Habitat CFC has developed over $20M worth of real estate in the City of Bridgeport, and these Habitat homeowners pay over $850,000 of property taxes annually to the City. Fundamental to continuing this important work is our organization acquiring vacant properties in Bridgeport (and elsewhere), on which to build new homes. Historically, our affiliate acquired nearly all the properties we built on from the City of Bridgeport for $1 per lot. Most of these properties, the City acquired through foreclosure of delinquent taxes or fees that speculative investors choose not to pay. Habitat CFC never applied for tax-exempt status on the $1 lots; paying property taxes on the lots while we built the new homes seemed only fair. This was a win-win arrangement for Habitat CFC and the City; the City gave Habitat a blighted, vacant parcel, and Habitat transformed it into a tax-paying homeowner.
Since the Covid pandemic, Bridgeport, like all of Connecticut, has seen skyrocketing real estate prices, and, as such, the City has had far fewer tax delinquent properties on which to foreclose, as investors were now building on their lots or flipping them for quick profits. As a result, Habitat CFC has had to pivot its property acquisition approach to purchasing properties on the open market, and the occasional opportunity to purchase properties from the City’s limited pool of available properties at appraised fair-market value. The annual property tax bill our organization receives nowadays is more than $50,000 on the properties that we own and are awaiting building approvals or currently under construction. Considering this development, and facing rising development costs across the board, Habitat CFC leadership decided to file for property tax-exemption status in the City of Bridgeport in October of 2024.
Upon review, the Office of the Tax Assessor denied our tax exemption application on the grounds that we do not meet the statutory requirement for approval. We appealed this decision with the Board of Assessment Appeals in March, but ultimately were again denied in April. As such, Habitat CFC has retained an attorney to appeal the denial of tax-exempt status on the properties we own in Bridgeport in the CT Superior Court. This will likely be a long process, but we are optimistic that we will prevail in court, as it’s clear that owning property on which to build homes is a fundamental requirement to our non-profit’s mission to build affordable homes for low-income, working families in Coastal Fairfield County.
If you have any questions, or would like more information, please reach out to Kevin Moore, COO at Habitat CFC: kmoore@habitatcfc.org.
