While Wilton’s Grand List has risen by nearly $75.5 million in 2024, representing a 1.32% increase over 2023, Board of Finance Chair Matt Raimondi said he’s still looking for more detail to understand what drove its growth.
The total Grand List net assessment for 2024 was $5,777,400,375, according to Wilton’s Manager of Assessing and Tax Collection Hollie Rapp. That represents an increase of $75,428,444.
“The 2026 Grand List value will go a long way toward helping the Board of Finance reduce the tax rates that may result from this year’s budget cycle,” First Selectman Toni Boucher said in a press release on Feb. 24.
Most notably, apartment construction values were up 62.15% from last year, helping to bring real estate totals up by $66,631,576, equaling a 1.30% change, accounting for $5,201,837,750 of the total Grand List.
At the Tuesday, Mar. 11, BOF meeting, Raimondi referenced the information based on the press release, but said he had also been working to research deeper into the numbers.
“There’s still a lot of information that we’re waiting on seeing in terms of the composite of that growth,” he said.
“I’ve done some work trying to take it apart, so on the real estate side, again based on that press release, the apartments was one of the main drivers,” he said, citing Riverside Wilton at 141 Danbury Rd. as the largest factor.
“Riverside was originally classified as a commercial building. It then got reclassified as an apartment building,” Raimondi said, explaining that the reclassification of property does not change the overall total of the Grand List.
While Raimondi hadn’t received specifics on the matter, Town Administrator Matt Knickerbocker told GOOD Morning Wilton last week that new construction was part of the reason behind the change.
“Wilton has had several very large-scale apartment complexes under construction over the past 18-24 months that have just in the past year reached completion and have been fully valued by the assessor’s office,” he said, noting Riverside to be the largest.
In his presentation, Raimondi said that while the property was reclassified, it also grew in value by $25.6 million.
He said he was awaiting details on the remaining $41 million of growth.
While Rapp did not respond to inquiries from GOOD Morning Wilton about the Grand List, Knickerbocker noted on her behalf that residential growth also influenced the total.
“There also continues to be relatively robust activity in new single-family home construction and renovation,” he said.
Personal property rose by $22,901,119, or 7.43%.
“I think the driver of that was ASML and their investments in Wilton, so thank you ASML,” Raimondi said.
Knickerbocker said that while it’s itemized as personal property, the greater part of that category is commercial.
“The personal property tax is mostly applied to business equipment,” he said. “A dry cleaner, for example, must declare his dry cleaning equipment, furnishings, cash register, computer, etc., as personal property.”
Motor vehicle totals decreased by 5.45%, or $14,104,251, which Knickerbocker said was due to the changes in how the state determines car value.
“I’ve heard that this change negatively affected every municipality in Connecticut,” he said.
Boucher touted the Grand List as good news for the town.
“A substantial growth in Grand List’s value like this year is often good news for property tax payers,” Boucher said in the news release. “It is also an excellent indicator of Wilton’s desirability as a place to live, work and educate children, according to Hollie.”
“I would like to extend my gratitude to our Town Assessor and Tax Collector, Hollie Rapp, and her staff, for working many long days and weekends to meticulously verify the numbers to achieve this important result,” she said.
Raimondi suggested to the BOF that, as additional details were sitting with Rapp and her office, they might benefit from having her visit the next BOF meeting to discuss them.