Borough sees slim increase in grand list

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NAUGATUCK — The borough saw a small increase in its grand list.

Naugatuck’s 2016 grand list is $1.6 billion, an increase of $7 million or 0.44 percent over the 2015 grand list. A municipality’s grand list is a tabulation of the assessed values of real estate, personal property and motor vehicles.

Based on the current mill rate of 47.67, the increase in the grand list equates to about $325,000 in additional tax revenue.

The assessed value of real estate went up $10.9 million, or 0.83 percent, to $1.33 billion.

Assessor Carol Ann Tyler said the increase was due to diligent work of her staff who have inspected nearly 550 properties around the borough, including permits that had not been put on the tax rolls since 2009.

“They had a lot of work to do and did a really great job,” Tyler said.

Tyler was hired in January 2016. She succeeded former Assessor George Hlavacek, who resigned in October 2015. At the time, officials expressed concerns about how he was running the department.

The assessed value of personal property decreased by $3.2 million, or 3.42 percent, to $90.2 million.

Tyler said the main cause of the decrease was the tax rolls contained a number of businesses that had closed or moved and were still listed at their previous address.

Tyler said she has been working on correcting all the previous records since she took office.

“We cleaned up a lot in here,” Tyler said. “I am hoping the records are perfect now.”

The assessed value of motor vehicles decreased $730,837, or 0.4 percent, to $182.7 million.

Tyler said this number isn’t an accurate reflection of Naugatuck, but rather part of the ongoing problems at the state Department of Motor Vehicles.

The DMV ran into problems when it switched computer software last year. The problems included vehicles being registered in the wrong towns and appearing on the wrong grand lists.

Tyler said the number is likely to change as the problems are corrected.

“We aren’t sure where our vehicles are,” Tyler said. “We will probably find them in April.”

Mayor N. Warren “Pete” Hess said the grand list has grown and become more accurate with Tyler in place.

“Between the time she was hired and February 2016, working with the new assessor, we added $18 million to the grand list,” Hess said. “Although it went up $7 million in this grand list, it really went up $25 million in a 14-month period.”

Hess said during that time there were also items that had to be deleted from the grand list, including borough-owned property that was showing up as taxable property.

“The grand list is much more accurate now. Accuracy is important because it impacts everyone’s tax bill,” Hess said.

Top 10 taxpayers

Yankee Gas (Eversource)…$20,083,120

Connecticut Water Co….$18,997,460

Connecticut Light & Power (Eversource)….$15,718,380

Mancinone Realty….$10,848,280

Garden Homes Naugatuck….$9,215,240

Wal-Mart….$8,599,800

Bridge Shopping Center Ltd….$7,393,480

Ansonia Acquisitions….$6,631,280

Ion Bank…$6,405,730

Southwood Gardens LLC… $5,180,000

The figures represent the combined assessment for the taxpayers. List provided by the Naugatuck Assessor’s Office.

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