347 A.2d 643 | Conn. Super. Ct. | 1975
This action was submitted to the trial court on a stipulation of facts. By agreement of counsel, Alexander Standish, acting city assessor, became the sole defendant. At the time of hearing, a motion to substitute John McDermott, city assessor, for Alexander Standish was granted. All plaintiffs are Hartford taxpayers and residents of the state of Connecticut. They reside in single-family homes owned by them and by their spouses in the city of Hartford. The present assessed value of the property owned by the plaintiffs and of all taxable property on the current grand list of Hartford, other than property altered or constructed between 1961 and the present time, was established in a 1961 revaluation of all taxable property in Hartford. The current grand list of Hartford, as well as grand lists of prior years, is available for inspection by the general public. The property record cards (or "field cards") are available to property owners for inspection on request. These cards contain valuations which serve as a basis for assessment found in the current grand list.
During 1971 the city of Hartford decided to make a complete revaluation of all taxable property in the city. Subsequently, it entered into a contract with Appraisal Surveys, Inc., hereinafter referred to as Appraisal Surveys, whereby the firm agreed to perform a complete revaluation of all taxable property in Hartford for local real estate taxation purposes. Pursuant to the contract, Appraisal Surveys has been paid the sum of $297,401.70 by Hartford. The firm is no longer performing work under the contract. Certain documents, records, computer tapes and printouts, and other material were prepared by either Appraisal Surveys or employees of Hartford, or both of them, under the contract between the firm and the city. The documents include property record cards with *585 raw valuation data collected by Appraisal Surveys, computer printouts and tapes with the assessment valuation of properties provided by Appraisal Surveys, and manuals and printouts with standards and formulae developed by Appraisal Surveys and Hartford to convert the valuation data on the property record cards into assessment valuations.
Between November 10, 1972, and December 20, 1972, Appraisal Surveys and employees of the city of Hartford sent notices of assessment to the owners of 75 to 85 percent of all taxable properties in the city. The assessed value shown on each notice of assessment was based on the valuation data principally supplied by Appraisal Surveys and was reviewed and revised in part by employees of Hartford. Subsequent to the mailing of the notices of assessment, a computer printout which contained information based on the revaluation data was available for public inspection at the assessor's office. The underlying property record cards were also made available for public inspection by individual property owners on request.
The assessment valuations and valuation data produced pursuant to the contract between Hartford and Appraisal Surveys have never been accepted by the city for use in establishing the grand lists. Since October 1, 1973, the materials produced under the contract have not been available for public inspection. On January 29, 1974, the plaintiffs, pursuant to General Statutes
Before addressing ourselves to the defendant's assignment of errors, an explanation of the legislative history and purposes of General Statutes
Connecticut's right to know law was enacted to expand the common-law right. Under our law, if a document is made, maintained, or kept on file by a governmental body and if it does not fall within certain exceptions, then it must be made available for public inspection, and no showing of interest or special purpose is required. The purpose of the law was ably summarized by Representative Robert B. August, the sponsor of the bills in the House, during the proceedings immediately prior to passage of one of the bills: "[R]ecords of governmental bodies should in general be public unless there was some specific exclusion or unless there were a question of the impairment of the reputation or character of an individual or financial loss to the State." 7 H.R. Proc., Pt. 5, 1957 Sess., p. 2651. Senator John H. Filer, the sponsor of the bills in the Senate, clearly indicated in his testimony that the right to know law was designed "to establish the principle that the government serves best when the people know what appears in its records and that all of its actions are open to the public." 7 S. Proc., Pt. 4, 1957 Sess., p. 2492. In light of the intent of the law to provide for disclosure and accountability,
The defendant's first assignment of error is that the court erred in concluding that all of the documents and records to which the plaintiffs seek access constitute public records within the meaning of General Statutes
The defendant also contends that the documents and other material which the plaintiffs seek to inspect cannot constitute public records because they do not serve as a memorial of any official transaction and because the revaluation is not yet complete. There is nothing in the language of
Looking to the purposes of the Connecticut right to know law, we must conclude that data which serves these purposes were intended by the legislature to constitute a public record and should be open to public inspection. See Bartels v. Roussel,
Concluding that a document is a public record within the meaning of
In his second assignment of error, the defendant focuses on the first category of exceptions. He contends that the trial court erred in concluding that the provisions of General Statutes
Section
The contention of the defendant that the granting of the request for inspection will impede the expeditious transaction of public business has no merit because the record below indicates that the defendant has failed to meet his burden of proof on that issue. See Meriden Record Co. v. Browning, 6 Conn. Cir. Ct. 633; State v. Mayo, 4 Conn. Cir. Ct. 511.
The defendant has failed to brief sufficiently his third assignment of error, and that assignment must therefore be considered abandoned. Fleischer v. Kregelstein,
There is no error.
In this opinion SPEZIALE and SPONZO, Js., concurred.