Sec. 13a-76. Reassessment of damages or benefits by judge trial referee or court.
Sec. 13a-76. Reassessment of damages or benefits by judge trial referee or
court. Any person claiming to be aggrieved by the assessment of such special damages
or such special benefits by the commissioner may, at any time within six months after
the same has been so filed, apply to the superior court for the judicial district within
which such land is situated for a reassessment of such damages or such benefits so far
as the same affect such applicant. The court, after causing notice of the pendency of
such application to be given to the commissioner, may appoint a judge trial referee to
make such reassessment of such damages or such benefits. The court or such 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 commissioner, may view the land, and
shall take such testimony as the court or such judge trial referee deems material and
shall thereupon reassess such damages and benefits so far as they affect such applicant.
The reassessment by the court or such judge trial referee shall take into account any
evidence relevant to the fair market value of the property, including evidence of required
environmental remediation by the Department of Transportation. The court or such
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 legal
action to recover remediation costs for the property. If the amount of the reassessment
of such damages awarded to any such property owner exceeds the amount of the assessment of such damages by the commissioner for such land, the court or such judge trial
referee shall award to such property owner such appraisal fees as the court or such judge
trial referee determines to be reasonable. If no appeal to the Appellate Court is filed
within the time allowed by law, or if one is filed and the proceedings have terminated
in a final judgment finding the amount due the landowner, the clerk shall send a certified
copy of the assessment of the commissioner and of the judgment to the Comptroller, who
shall, upon receipt thereof, draw an order upon the Treasurer in favor of the landowner for
the amount due the landowner as damages. The pendency of any such application for
reassessment shall not prevent or delay the layout, extension, alteration, widening,
change of grade or other improvement of any such highway.
(1949 Rev., S. 2267; 1957, P.A. 632, S. 2; 1958 Rev., S. 13-150; 1963, P.A. 226, S. 76; P.A. 78-280, S. 2, 127; June
Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-29, S. 24, 82; P.A. 86-274; P.A. 96-37, S. 3; P.A. 01-75, S. 1, 3; 01-186, S. 2; P.A. 02-132, S. 72.)
History: 1963 act replaced previous provisions: See title history; P.A. 78-280 substituted "judicial district" for "county";
June Sp. Sess. P.A. 83-29 deleted reference to supreme court and substituted appellate court in lieu thereof; P.A. 86-274
specified that the referee appointed to reassess damages and benefits shall be a "trial" referee, provided that the trial referee
rather than the court or judge award appraisal fees determined to be reasonable, deleted provisions which required the
referee to submit a report of his reassessment to the court for acceptance or rejection by the court and the appointment by
the court of another referee if it rejected the report, and added provision defining trial referee; P.A. 96-37 changed state
trial referee to judge trial referee; P.A. 01-75 added provisions requiring the reassessment of the trial referee to take into
account the fair market value of the property, including environmental remediation by the Department of Transportation,
requiring such referee to make a separate finding for remediation costs and requiring a set-off of such cost to the property
owner in any pending or subsequent legal action and made technical changes for the purposes of gender neutrality, effective
June 6, 2001; P.A. 01-186 changed "shall" appoint to "may" appoint a judge trail referee, deleted definition of trial referee
for purposes of section, and made technical changes for purposes of gender neutrality (Revisor's note: In merging the
gender-neutral technical changes contained in public acts 01-75 and 01-186, the Revisors gave precedence to the changes
contained in public act 01-75); P.A. 02-132 added provisions re review by court, replaced provision re mandatory viewing
of land with provision re discretionary viewing of land and made technical and conforming changes.
Cited. 116 C. 124. Cited. 117 C. 139. Cited. 125 C. 417. Cited. 129 C. 250. Cited. 134 C. 228. On appeal under this
section no question of validity of assessment can be raised. 113 C. 660. Function of court goes no further than to determine
amount due plaintiff. 127 C. 464; 129 C. 117. Cited. 137 C. 300. When report of referee reassessing damages may be
overturned; correct procedure for attacking findings contained in such report. 147 C. 685. Cited. 148 C. 731. Existence of
sand and gravel on property should be considered as factor in damages insofar as it affects marked value of land. Id., 736.
Cited. 149 C. 210. The referee should include the entire reasonable cost of moving the plaintiff's equipment in determining
the fair market value of the property taken. 150 C. 32. Cited. Id., 524. Cited. 152 C. 353, 354. Cited. 153 C. 292. Referee
should consider market value of renewal options in determining value of leasehold. Id., 377. Cited. Id., 718. Where there
was credible evidence by experts of value of plaintiff's property to support referee's conclusion, court did not err in
overruling plaintiff's exceptions to report of referee. 155 C. 602. Motion to reopen hearing by referee to introduce further
evidence denied where there was no showing by plaintiff that evidence to be offered could not have been produced at
hearing. 156 C. 70. State's appraiser may be required by condemnee to testify to his expert opinion concerning value of
condemned property. Id., 166. Cited. 163 C. 204. Where portion of parcel is taken and remainder of land is not taken,
either by right of statutory authority or in a constitutional sense, owner has no direct cause of action against condemnor
but is left to recover any severance damage under this section. 169 C. 195. Condemnation proceeding is limited to reassessment of damages caused by taking 172 C. 182. Cited. Id., 234. Time limit for appeal from assessment extended to six
months from date of superior court judgment. 173 C. 220. Cited. 174 C. 323. Where appeal based on determination of
damages only referee(s) may not assess benefits. 176 C. 391. Court correctly considered cost to cure expenditures in
determining the after value of remaining land after taking. 177 C. 432. Cited. 178 C. 710. Cited. 180 C. 11. Denial of access
was a foreseeable, necessary, natural and proximate result of the taking and the property owner was entitled to compensation.
Id., 355, 356, 360. Although under this statute the superior court clerk is required, following a final judgment in a condemnation proceeding, to send to the state comptroller certified copies of both the assessment and the judgment, clerk's failure
to send copy of assessment did not impair plaintiff's right to pursue its mandamus actions. 187 C. 171. Cited. 192 C. 377.
Cited. 203 C. 364. Cited. 209 C. 480. Cited. 211 C. 173; Id., 382. Cited. 214 C. 225. Cited. 215 C. 437. Cited. 236 C. 710.
Six-month limitation period for filing an application for reassessment is not subject matter jurisdictional but is analogous
to a statute of limitations, requiring Commissioner of Transportation to raise in a timely manner property owner's failure
to comply with such provision with failure to do so constituting a waiver of the defense; since commissioner failed to raise
issue of property owner's failure to file her reassessment applications in a timely manner, commissioner's claim of untimely
filing was waived. Trial court has burden of "causing notice" of property owner's application for reassessment to be given
commissioner; property owner ws not required to initiate and serve notice of her application on commissioner, and there
is no language in statute to support commissioner's construction allocating burden to property owner to initiate and serve
notice on commissioner. 262 C. 257.
Because appeal under section is a trial de novo, motion for summary judgment available. 11 CA 439. Cited. 35 CA 9.
Cited. 36 CA 49. The trial court's failure to award appraisal fees was clearly erroneous because it was presented with facts
and evidence from which it could have determined a reasonable appraisal fee in the exercise of its discretion. 109 CA 16.
Cited. 4 CS 474. Cited. 6 CS 335. An injunction will not lie in condemnation if there is an adequate remedy at law. Id.,
393. Does not determine relative rights of interested persons who claim reverter interests. 9 CS 497. Section affords no
review of validity of the condemnation. 11 CS 39. If all means of access to property are taken, measure of damages is
value of the property. 14 CS 138. Cited. 17 CS 47. Court in awarding appraisal fees is not bound by section 52-257. 21
CS 343. Elements to be considered by court in determining what is a reasonable appraisal fee. Id. Cited. 24 CS 391. Appeal
from a condemnation proceeding is limited in scope to a reassessment of damages. 27 CS 23. Cited. Id., 287. Referee
directed to file a report when case had been heard before enactment of section 51-50f. Id., 494. State referee's report
rejected and matter referred to another referee when the conclusion that the building on the condemned property was of
no value was not sustained by the findings of fact. 28 CS 68. Cited. 34 CS 194, 195. Statutory condition subsequent for
an appeal to be taken in a condemnation proceeding under section discussed. 46 CS 623. Court lacks jurisdiction to hear
appeal by owner for reassessment of damages under section where commissioner was not served with notice of the appeal
and return of service ordered by the court was never filed. Id.