Suffield grand list grows due to real estate boost
Feb. 4—SUFFIELD — The town's grand list grew by $31.6 million, or 2.04%, in 2022, mostly due to an increase in real estate.
The grand list represents the total value of personal property, motor vehicles, and real estate in town as of Oct. 1, 2022. It is used to calculate town revenue and the tax rate.
TOP 10 ASSESSMENTS
Eversource: $37,548,020
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.: $20,913,790
Harvey Lane Property Owner LLC: $14,526,470
Well LCB Landlord LLC: $9,990,134
Connecticut Water Co.: $6,166,690
Moffie Family Holding Co. LLC: $5,226,410
HP Hood Inc.: $5,130,270
Yankee Gas Services Co.: $4,891,170
Harmon Ventures LLC, Harmon Ventures 2 LLC, Harmon Ventures 3, LLC: $3,995,530
eHamlet Homes LLC: $3,294,130
The 2022 grand list, completed last month, totals $1.58 billion, compared to the 2021 grand list of $1.55 billion.
The real estate portion of the grand list, about 83% of the total, accounted for a majority of the increase, rising nearly $15.9 million to $1.3 billion.
Town Assessor Lisa Trase said 26 new houses were completed since the 2021 grand list was compiled, and another 37 houses are in progress. Most of the construction has taken place on Hidden Way, Kings Meadow Lane, Metacomet Lane, Stonegate Lane, and Dylan Drive, she said.
In addition, the value of 400 properties in town changed following building permit inspections and real estate listing reviews by the assessor's office.
Two companies in town, Rug Pad USA and Broad Brook Brewing, received Department of Economic Community Development certificates last year, meaning their real estate and personal property assessments for the next four years will be reduced by 80%, Trase said.
Rug Pad USA's assessment was reduced by $4.6 million, and Broad Brook's was reduced by about $500,000. The town should be reimbursed for half of the reductions, Trase said.
The motor vehicle portion of the grand list increased last year as well by nearly $9 million or 5.4 percent, to $175.7 million.
That is much smaller than the increase seen in 2021, when the prices for new and used cars drove motor vehicle values in town up by 25%.
Trase said the value of a vehicle normally decreases as it ages, and that is the case for around three-quarters of the vehicles that were on the grand list in 2021 and 2022. However, the other 2,500 vehicles increased in value in 2022, she said.
The town also gained an additional 347 vehicles on the tax roll in 2022, bringing the total to 14,723.
The personal property portion of the grand list increased by 7.43%, or about $6.8 million, last year to $98.16 million. Of the 730 personal property accounts, the largest increases were seen from Eversource and Connecticut Water.
For breaking news and happenings in North Central Connecticut, follow Matthew Knox on Twitter: @MatthewPKnoxJI, and Facebook: Matthew P. Knox JI.
