Officials: Wilton tax rate expected to drop

Home and commercial values on the rise

WILTON — After over a month of delays, property revaluation notices have begun arriving in residents’ mailboxes with an average increase in home values of 37 percent.

First Selectwoman Toni Boucher said that residents shouldn’t be alarmed by the increases, as they don’t immediately indicate an increase in property taxes.

Matt Raimondi, chairman of the town’s finance board, said that property revaluations themselves are budget neutral, meaning Wilton’s financial needs are not affected by the property values.

In fact, both Boucher and Raimondi affirmed that when property values increase, the mill rate decreases.

Municipalities like Wilton are mandated to conduct a revaluation every five years to determine the fair market value of every residential and commercial property in the town. The goal is to equalize the values of all properties to ensure the local tax burden is distributed equitably.

Revaluations and mill rates

Wilton’s current mill rate is 29.26 — but what does that mean for Wiltonians’ taxes? Raimondi explained it for a hypothetical home valued at exactly $100,000.

“The way we calculate what your taxes are going to be is you take that $100,000, you divide it by 1,000,” he said. “So, you get 100. Then you multiply that by the mill rate and you get what?”

You get $2,926 in property taxes.

But the way the mill rate changes is affected by all property in town.

“The grand list, which is all the total amount of the assessed value in town, reflects what the market values of those properties are,” he said.

The finance board chairman said that residential properties make up the lion’s share of the grand list. Next is commercial properties, which increased by about 15 percent in the revaluation process, the first selectwoman said.

“This means our mill rate is likely to go down,” Boucher said in a notice on the town’s website on Jan. 25.

The value of the town’s motor vehicles also make up the third largest part of the grand list. Personal property is the smallest valued portion of the grand list, Raimondi said.

When property values go up, as residential and commercial values did, the entire grand list is worth more money. They said there is a bigger pot from which taxes are drawn. And an increase in commercial properties can help subsidize property taxes for residents, Boucher said.

But this is where Boucher and Raimondi said residents get concerned; a 37 percent average increase in residential property values doesn’t equate to a 37 increase in property taxes. “No way,” Boucher said. What’s more, property taxes are much more individualized, Raimondi said. The new mill rate will affect increased properties more than those that decreased or stagnated.

“An example is where the grand list as a whole goes up 30 percent but yet my house went up 40 percent,” Raimondi said. “My taxes are probably going up because I’m growing. I’m now occupying more of the grand list.”

But because the mill rate isn’t set until after the final municipal spending plan is approved this spring, neither a tax rate nor tax bills are known, Raimondi said.

“Just because the grand list is increasing, doesn’t mean the budget increases,” Raimondi said.

The mill rate is determined by a vote, but the numerical value is determined by whatever number will satisfy exactly 100 percent of the municipal budget’s needs.

What’s weighing on the budget this year?

One thing that will weigh on the budget this year is bond ratings.

“Moody’s has decided if you wanna keep your AAA rating for your town, they no longer are saying 10 percent set aside in reserves or surplus,” Boucher said “They want 25 to 35 percent.”

Raimondi said keeping the AAA rating from the bond credit rating businesses like Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s, and Fitch is a “major driver.”

“We’re at about 23-pointsomething percent in reserves,” the finance board chair said, noting the dollar value in the town’s fund balance is about $35 million.

He said that the other budget drivers are standard year-toyear. The Board of Education budget is the biggest portion, at about 65 percent of the municipal budget.

School Superintendent Kevin Smith, is asking the town for $94.1 million in fiscal year 20242024 to fund the districts’ schools— a 5.56 percent increase over this year’s spending plan.

The next highest part of the town’s bill is for the Board of Selectmen, which accounts for roughly a quarter of the budget, Raimondi said. Next up is 9 percent paying off the amortization town’s bonds.

The town’s charter requires that 1 percent of Wilton’s budget is kept in reserve in case any boards exceed their budget and need a special appropriation, Raimondi said.

The school board and Board of Selectmen have yet to present their budget proposals to the finance board.

“Once we get that, the Board of Finance will deliberate on it, we’ll come up with a final number to propose the town to vote on it on May 7 (and) get their new mill rate,” Raimondi said. “That’s when the taxes are going to be locked in, starting in July.”

What to do in the meantime?

Boucher said that if residents notice any discrepancies in their revaluations, to contact the revaluation service, Vision Government Solutions, within 5 days of receipt, where they can appeal it in person.

Afterwards, if residents are still displeased with the value, “then they can appeal here in their town to the Wilton Board of Assessment Appeals” between March 1 and March 20, she said.

Raimondi noted that the revaluation, mill rate and taxing process is “complicated and confusing stuff.”

“I would encourage people to continue reaching out, even if I don’t have the answers,” he said.

His email is Matthew.Raimondi@wiltonct.org. He said he expects the grand list to be ready by Feb. 13 when the finance board will have an initial discussion about the mill rate.