Sec. 8-132. Judicial review of statement of compensation. Revision of statement by Ombudsman for Property Rights.
Sec. 8-132. Judicial review of statement of compensation. Revision of statement by Ombudsman for Property Rights. (a) Any person claiming to be aggrieved
by the statement of compensation filed by the redevelopment agency may, at any time
within six months after the statement of compensation has been filed, apply to the superior court for the judicial district in which such property is situated for a review of such
statement of compensation so far as it affects such applicant. The court, after causing
notice of the pendency of such application to be given to the redevelopment agency,
may, with the consent of the parties or their attorneys, appoint a judge trial referee to
make a review of the statement of compensation, except that the court shall, upon the
motion of either party or their attorneys, refer the application to a judge appointed by
the Chief Court Administrator to hear tax appeals pursuant to section 12-39l, who shall
consider such application in the manner set forth in subsection (c) of this section. For
the purposes of such application, review and appeal therefrom, and for the purposes of
sections 52-192a to 52-195, inclusive, such applicant shall be deemed a counterclaim
plaintiff. Notwithstanding the provisions of this subsection, upon motion of both parties
or their attorneys, the court shall refer the application to the Ombudsman for Property
Rights for a hearing pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (b) of this section.
(b) (1) If the court appoints a judge trial referee, the judge trial referee, after giving
at least ten days' notice to the parties interested of the time and place of hearing, shall
hear the applicant and the redevelopment agency, shall view the property and take such
testimony as the judge trial referee deems material and shall thereupon revise such
statement of compensation in such manner as the judge trial referee deems proper and
promptly report to the court. Such report shall contain a detailed statement of findings
by the judge trial referee sufficient to enable the court to determine the considerations
upon which the judge trial referee's conclusions are based. The report of the judge trial
referee shall take into account any evidence relevant to the fair market value of the
property, including evidence of environmental condition and required environmental
remediation. The judge trial referee shall make a separate finding for remediation costs
and the property owner shall be entitled to a set-off of such costs in any pending or
subsequent action to recover remediation costs for the property. The court shall review
the report, and may reject the report for any irregular or improper conduct in the performance of the duties of the judge trial referee. If the court rejects the report, the court may
appoint another judge trial referee to make such review and report or may refer the
application to the Ombudsman for Property Rights upon motion as provided in subsection (a) of this section. If the court accepts the report, the statement of compensation in
the report shall be conclusive upon such owner and the redevelopment agency.
(2) If the court refers the application to the Ombudsman for Property Rights pursuant
to subsection (a) of this section, the ombudsman, after giving at least ten days' notice
to the parties interested of the time and place of hearing, shall hear the applicant and
the redevelopment agency, shall view the property and take such testimony as the ombudsman deems material and shall thereupon revise such statement of compensation in
such manner as the ombudsman deems proper and promptly report to the court. Such
report shall contain a detailed statement of findings by the ombudsman sufficient to
enable the court to determine the considerations upon which the ombudsman's conclusions are based. The report of the ombudsman shall take into account any evidence
relevant to the fair market value of the property, including evidence of environmental
condition and required environmental remediation. The ombudsman shall make a separate finding for remediation costs and the property owner shall be entitled to a set-off
of such costs in any pending or subsequent action to recover remediation costs for the
property. The report submitted by the ombudsman shall constitute a part of the proceeding, and the statement of compensation in the report shall be conclusive upon such owner
and the redevelopment agency.
(c) If the court does not appoint a judge trial referee or refer the application to the
Ombudsman for Property Rights, the court, after giving at least ten days' notice to
the parties interested of the time and place of hearing, shall hear the applicant and the
redevelopment agency and take such testimony as the court deems material, may view
the subject property, and shall make a finding regarding the statement of compensation.
The findings of the court shall take into account any evidence relevant to the fair market
value of the property, including evidence of environmental condition and required environmental remediation. The court shall make a separate finding for remediation costs
and the property owner shall be entitled to a set-off of such costs in any pending or
subsequent action to recover remediation costs for the property. The findings of the
court shall be conclusive upon such owner and the redevelopment agency.
(d) If no appeal to the Appellate Court is filed within the time allowed by law, or
if an appeal is filed and the proceedings have terminated in a final judgment finding the
amount due the property owner, the clerk shall send a certified copy of the statement
of compensation and of the judgment to the redevelopment agency, which shall, upon
receipt thereof, pay such property owner the amount due as compensation. The pendency
of any such application for review shall not prevent or delay any action that is proposed
with regard to such property by the project area redevelopment plan.
(1955, S. 490d; 1972, P.A. 148, S. 1; P.A. 78-280, S. 2, 127; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-29, S. 20, 82; P.A. 00-89; 00-192,
S. 100, 102; P.A. 01-186, S. 1; 01-195, S. 113, 181; P.A. 02-132, S. 69; P.A. 04-257, S. 93; P.A. 07-141, S. 9; 07-207, S. 2.)
History: 1972 act added sentence specifying nature of referee's report to court; P.A. 78-280 replaced "county" with
"judicial district"; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-29 deleted reference to supreme court and substituted appellate court in lieu
thereof; P.A. 00-89 added provision re consideration of evidence relevant to fair market value, including environmental
condition and environmental remediation, and added provision re remediation costs; P.A. 00-192 changed effective date
of P.A. 00-89 from October 1, 2000, to May 26, 2000, effective May 26, 2000; P.A. 01-186 changed "shall appoint a state
referee" to "may appoint a judge trial referee" and made technical changes for purposes of gender neutrality; P.A. 01-195
made technical changes for the purposes of gender neutrality, effective July 11, 2001 (Revisor's note: In merging P.A. 01-186 and P.A. 01-195, the Revisors gave precedence to the gender-neutral technical changes contained in P.A. 01-195);
P.A. 02-132 divided existing provisions into Subsecs. (a), (b) and (d), making technical and conforming changes throughout,
amended Subsec. (b) by adding provisions re court review of report and replacing provisions re mandatory appointment
of another referee with provisions re discretionary appointment of another judge trial referee and added Subsec. (c) re
review by court; P.A. 04-257 made technical changes, effective June 14, 2004; P.A. 07-141 amended Subsec. (a) to add
"with the consent of the parties or their attorneys" re appointment of judge trial referee, add provision re referral of
application to a judge appointed to hear tax appeals pursuant to section 12-39l, and provide that for purposes of application,
review and appeal and for purposes of sections 52-192a to 52-195, applicant shall be deemed a counterclaim plaintiff, and
made technical changes in Subsecs. (a) and (c), effective June 25, 2007, and applicable to property acquired on or after
that date; P.A. 07-207 added provisions authorizing Superior Court to refer statement of compensation to Ombudsman for
Property Rights for revision and made technical changes, effective October 1, 2007, and applicable to property acquired
on and after that date.
Cited. 147 C. 321. Compensation may take into consideration moving expenses if these affect fair market value. Id.,
362. Referee is not bound by opinion of experts; such opinions only aid trier to arrive at his own conclusion which is
reached by weighing such opinions in light of all other relevant circumstances and his own general knowledge. 148 C.
513. Statute permits, and indeed requires, referee to raise, lower or leave unchanged the assessment of damages and there
was no reason for precluding referee from revising assessment downward. 152 C. 141. Cited. 153 C. 119. Cited. 160 C.
492. Cited. 168 C. 135. Cited. 179 C. 293. Referee did not err in finding that the unique characteristics and special business
use of the property were factors enhancing its fair market value. 180 C. 579. Cited. 181 C. 217. Cited. 184 C. 444. Cited.
203 C. 364. Cited. 215 C. 197.
Cited. 1 CA 20. Cited. 2 CA 351; Id., 355. Cited. 4 CA 271. Cited. 7 CA 485. Does not mandate filing of separate
action to contest compensation statement. 18 CA 508. Cited. 20 CA 148. Cited. 21 CA 359. Cited. 23 CA 554. Cited. 37
CA 7. Cited. 42 CA 292. Defendant could not prevail on claim that trial court's valuation of property taken by eminent
domain was inherently flawed because it failed to follow its statutory obligation to actually view the property; under the
circumstances, court's failure to view the property was harmless because at time of trial the property no longer existed in
same condition as it did at time of taking and, therefore, evidence of court's viewing of property would have been irrelevant.
76 CA 678.
Cited. 35 CS 157.