Town of Wilton

WILTON — At the recommendation of Wilton’s tax assessor Paul Binnette, tax payers will see a 35 cent decrease in the 2019-20 mil rate. Binnette laid out several scenarios—all with reductions and the Board elected to go with the most aggressive presented. The new rate will be $20. Homeowners with a property valued at $100,000 will receive a tax bill $35 lower than last year, before the homestead exemption is applied.

Select Board Member Tiffany Maiuri said she felt it was prudent to go with the lowest rate possible. It would still leave the town with a comfortable overlay.

“We are going in the right direction” with taxes, she said.

Board Chair Keith Swett agreed.

“We’ve been able to flatten the bell curve on taxes,” he said. “And it’s not just through luck, it’s been good management. We’ve already seen taxes reduced two years in a row.”

Binnette reported the overlay fund contains $83,145. A total of $2,337 has been used to pay for abatements in property taxes. During the first year following the most recent reevaluation in 2017, the town put $130,000 into the fund. For 2019-20 the overlay fund will be set for less than $49,000.

“Considering that $5 million dollars has been collected on 4,000 properties, we are confident that current valuations are very accurate,” Binnette said.

Town Manager Rhonda Irish said that $12,713 of unpaid taxes on Forster Mill remained to be written off. Accounting auditors advised the write-off be taken from the overlay fund. She expected at least one other pending property with an old tax bill would be handled the same way.

Binnette indicated those charges would not affect his recommendation to decrease the mil rate, noting that while Wilton has lost businesses like Barklay and Key Bank, others have come into town to maintain a consistent economic balance. He also informed the Board that residents enrolled in Maine’s homestead exemption program could expect an additional rebate check for $100 or more. He is in the process of pulling the list and sending it to the state. The overall homestead exemption will increase in 2020 from $20,000 to $25,000, providing even more property tax relief.