WALLINGFORD — The town’s 2022 grand list shows a more than 1% increase, which will bring in almost $1.5 million more in tax revenue.
Mayor William Dickinson Jr. forwarded the new grand list to the Town Council last week, along with the town’s top 15 taxpayers. Finalizing the grand list provides vital information for the upcoming budget season, Dickinson said, because it helps in formulating department requests.
The grand list, the town’s listing of all taxable property, increased by $49,396,056, or 1.08%, to $4,617,631,719. At the town’s current 29.04 mill rate, that increase means an additional $1,434,461 in tax revenue. A mill equals $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value.
The grand list is made up of three parts: real estate, motor vehicle and personal property. The greatest growth came from motor vehicles, which increased by 4.87%.
In a memo to Comptroller Timothy Sena, Assessor Kevin Coons said much of that increase is attributed to commercial vehicles, while the average passenger car assessment of $12,800 remained the same as last year’s average.
The real estate list increased by the least, at 0.37%.
“There was a slight increase in the net residential real estate portion of the grand list in spite of minimal new construction,” Coons said in his memo. Additions and renovations to small scale projects led to slight increases in the commercial and industrial sector, he said, and pending tax appeals may result in a reduction of as much as $1.4 million.
Personal property assessments rose by $10.5 million, or 3.27%, and most of that increase is from the town’s two top taxpayers, Yankee Gas and Connecticut Light and Power, both Eversource companies, which are also the top two taxpayers.
Sun Silvertree Apartments dropped off the top 15 taxpayers list, replaced by Fastenal.
Parker Place Apartments moved up from the fourth to the third highest taxpayer and Lowe’s and BJ’s Plaza owner Agree Eastern LLC moved from fourth to third, while Cellco Properties, DBA Verizon Wireless, dropped from third highest to fifth.
“We are pleased with this continued growth,” Dickinson said. “Certainly the efforts of the Finance Department and the Assessor’s Office are appreciated in having it completed on time and it plays a significant role in us being able to put a budget together because at the current mill rate shows what new money we could expect without raising any taxes so it’s about $1.4 million of new money.”
“Every dollar is appreciated, and again, for the well being of the community to have businesses and people interested in locating here for business or living purposes, this shows that the community is attractive and that’s important too.”