House Republican Press Release

February 26, 2007

Press Office: 860-240-8700

Kalinowski Opposes Making Home Floor Plans Public

Proposes Bill to Prohibit Assessors, Revaluation Employees from Posting

HARTFORD- State Representative Ray Kalinowski (R-Durham) has introduced legislation during this term of the Connecticut General Assembly that would prohibit municipal tax assessors from making public the floor plan layout of private homes and dwellings on the Internet.

“The practice of posting the floor plans of homes on the Internet in conjunction with the process of revaluation places homeowners at unnecessary risk,” said Kalinowski.  “Criminals who are interested in breaking into a home wouldn’t even need to visit the neighborhood to case it.  They would be able to do so from the comfort of home using their computer.  There is no benefit in the public interest to having this information available to the general public, while it seems there is a great deal placed at risk by posting it.”

The proposed bill would also prohibit a company that is performing a revaluation from selling the floor plans or other date they have obtained on private residences to any other party.

“Residents should be reasonably certain that data and plans collected on their homes for the purposes of municipal revaluation will not be used for any other purpose,” said Kalinowski.  “No company that collects this data for that purpose should be allowed to profit by selling the information they collect to outside parties.”

The bill, HB 5071, is currently before the legislature’s Planning and Development Committee.  This session of the Connecticut General Assembly will conclude at midnight on June 6^th.