NORWICH GRAND LIST UP 1.7 PERCENT, $31 MILLION

Norwich — The city saw a strong increase in the grand list of taxable property in 2017, with a nearly $31.5 million, or 1.7 percent, hike for a total of $1.863 billion in combined real estate, motor vehicle and personal property values.

Assessor Donna Ralston reported those numbers Wednesday, the deadline for filing the Oct. 1 values to the state.

Net real estate values after exemptions were removed totaled $1.518 billion as of Oct. 1, an increase of $20.8 million, or 1.4 percent, over the 2016 values after adjustments were made by the Board of Assessment Appeals. Motor vehicle values totaled $192.4 million, a $712,128, or 0.3 percent, increase. And personal property, which includes commercial equipment, totaled $151.9 million, a $9.9 million, or 7 percent, increase.

Ralston also reported a sharp decline of $3.9 million, or 0.7 percent, in tax-exempt properties, mostly in real estate values. Owners of tax-exempt property were required to re-file their exemption paperwork in 2017, a state requirement every four years, and Ralston said many in Norwich failed to do so. It is not known how many of those lost exemptions will be reinstated.

The increase in grand list property values would bring in an additional $1.27 million in tax revenue based on this year’s citywide tax rate of 40.52 mills, city Comptroller Josh Pothier said. The added value to the central city fire tax district would be about $57,000 on the current 8.22-mill tax rate, Pothier said.

City Manager John Salomone was pleased with the increase, calling the real estate values “solid” and saying the 1.7 percent tax base growth tops what many other Connecticut municipalities have seen.