Property values add $30.3M to Bethel’s grand list
BETHEL — Rising property values led to a $30.3 million increase in the town’s grand list this past year.
Bethel’s total net grand list assessment grew from
$2,069,704,000 in 2019 to
$2,100,042,380 in 2020, according to the town’s assistant assessor Dana Dean.
The increase was primarily driven by a $16.3 million increase in assessed real estate property value.
“The biggest changes in value were new homes, residential construction, some commercial construction,” First Selectman Matt Knickerbocker said.
Assessed motor vehicle value added $7.1 million and a $6.9 million increase in assessed personal property value.
Although the value of exempt properties increased by about $1.7 million, Knickerbocker said it was “far outweighed” by the increases in nonexempt property.
The grand list is an assessment of all taxable property in town that “provides the basis against which taxes will be levied during the following fiscal year,” according to the Bethel Assessor’s Office.
Value changes from Bethel’s 2018 to 2019 grand lists led to a revenue increase of about $970,000,
Knickerbocker said. That revenue was applied to the
2020-21 budget and used in determining the town’s
33.41 mill rate.
All real estate, motor vehicle and personal property assessed on the town’s grand list dated Oct. 1,
2020, will be used to determine Bethel’s mill rate for
2021-22, which has not yet been set.
The next mill rate won’t be set until after Bethel
taxpayers vote next month on the town’s $81.9 million proposed 2021-22 budget, which allocates $49 million to the schools and $32.9 for town operations.
The town side of the budget includes roughly
$26.7 million for municipal operating expenses, nearly
$5.8 million in debt service and $350,000 for school building maintenance.
This year’s annual town meeting will take place April 5 in person at the track and field training center at Bethel High School, followed by a referendum on April 20 with voters casting ballots at their usual polling places..