Slow growth hurts tax revenue

BETHEL - Less money is available in Bethel's coffers for the upcoming budget year after commercial and residential growth declined slightly last year.

Revenues from taxable property last year was greater than in 2004, but the rise was less than in previous years. That means town officials won't have as much revenue as in past years to help offset the inevitable rise in costs for the new tax year, which begins in July.

Many residential and commercial projects, however, were approved in 2005 and will start in the spring and summer. Tax revenue from those projects will help offset costs next year.

"The town was in a planning year," said Bethel assessor Ann Marie Heering.

Heering this week announced Bethel's Grand List for 2005, and the cutoff for real estate, vehicles and personal property to make the list is Oct. 1.

A Grand List shows the assessed value - 70 percent of market value - of all taxable property within the town. From 2000 to 2004, the increase in Bethel's Grand List ranged around 2 percent. But in 2005, the increase was barely over 1 percent.

"Purely from a financial and budgetary standpoint, it's somewhat disappointing," said Bethel comptroller Barry Curina about the 1 percent rise. "Growth is about half of what it usually is. That's quite a dramatic drop."

Last year, the Grand List was $1,613,738,062, an increase of $18.4 million over the 2004 Grand List. The Grand List is used to determine the tax rate, also known as the mill rate, paid by residents each year.

Though Curina hasn't crunched the numbers, he estimated the town is likely looking at an increase in tax revenues of about $350,000 to $400,000, instead of about $700,000 to $800,000 in previous years.

The biggest part of the Grand List comes from real estate, both residential and commercial. In 2005, the assessed value of real estate was $1,418,857,480, an increase over 2004 of nearly $11 million. Vehicle value is the next highest Grand List item and in 2005 it came to $127,413,932, an increase over the previous year of $7.3 million.

Personal property, the last Grand List item, only applies to businesses and includes company furniture, fixtures and equipment, but not inventory which is tax exempt. In 2005, the value of personal property came to $67,466,650, an increase over 2004 of $71,140.









Bethel's grand list







Town

Assessed Property Value





Duracell

$51,247,500





Steiner Inc.

$24,114,000





Bethel Health Rehab

$13,965,000





CL P

$13,902,440





Target

$9,555,930





Tony's Restaurant

$7,342,440





Shepards

$4,881,850





Vanderbilt Chemical

$4,595,820





Kanthal

$4,512,380





Hoya Lens

$4,228,190















Like Heering, the assessor, Bethel's land use official Steve Palmer sees the coming year as a busy one with many of the projects approved by the town in 2004 and 2005 set to get underway. "I see it as a very active year with a lot of work ahead."

Among those projects are a Big Y supermarket and shopping plaza for Stony Hill Road; a free standing CVS Pharmacy for Library Place; The Glen at Chestnut Hill, an active adult development of 37 upscale homes on Nashville Road; a 20-lot subdivision of million dollar plus homes on Putnam Park Road, and several expansions in the Francis J. Clarke Industrial Park, including a 55,000 square-foot addition by Interstate Lumber.



Contact Marietta Homayonpour

at mhomayonpour@newstimes.com

or at (203) 731-3336.