Lisowski: 17% Drop in Grand List Assessment

Because of last year's real estate revaluation, Wilton's tax base will be noticeably smaller this year.

Town Assessor David Lisowski addressed the Board of Selectmen Monday night, after he filed the grand list—the sum of the taxable property in town—on Thursday. The final numbers of that list were not yet available. 

"Overall, we've seen a drop in assessment of 17 percent," Lisowski said.

Property prices on last year's grand list reflected 2007 real estate values. By law, the town must revalue properties, Lisowski said. The newest version of the grand list will reflect 2012 property values. 

Selectman Richard Dubow said it was important to remind residents the drop in the grand list doesn't mean taxes are going up by a matching percentage.

"That doesn’t mean that taxes are going up 17 percent," he said. "Assessment is a way of distributing the tax burden."

The silver lining perhaps was a "considerable increase in business-personal property," Lisowski noted.

"I can attribute that, a good portion of that, to Bridgewater Associates moving in to 20 Westport Road," he said.

First Selectman William Brennan said the report didn't come as a surprise.

"It's reflective of what has happened to the market value," he said. "Commercial real estate is down, residential property is down a little more. It’s not really any great surprise."

Brennan said that 12 percent of the taxable properties in town are commercial, so while it's "not going to have a huge impact on it, it will help," as commercial properties haven't declined as much as residential properties have.