Rising Property Values Push Wilmington Taxes Higher

WILMINGTON, MA -- Selectmen voted to decrease tax rates Monday but, thanks to rising property values, most property owners will see their tax bills go up. The owner of the aveerage home in Wilmington will pay $6,335.69, up $290.74, or 4.3 percent, from $6,626.43 this year. The new residential property tax rate is $13.75 for $1,000 of assessed value, down from $14.41.

Property values rose 9.6 percent in Wilmington this year to $481,922 from $439,673 a year ago. "We aren’t building new ranches in town. We’re now building $700,000 and $800,000 Colonials. That affects what the average assessed value will be,” Principal Assessor Karen Rassias said.

Selectmen set commercial tax rates at $30.94 per $1,000 of assessed value, down from $32.46. They also approved a maximum tax classification shift of 1.75 percent, which puts more of the tax burden on commerical properties. Residential properties make up 77 percent of the taxable property in Wilmington, but will only account for about 60 percent of the property tax revenue as a result of the shift.

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Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).