Average Wilmington Tax Bill To Increase About $246 In FY2020

WILMINGTON, MA — Wilmington's average single-family tax bill will increase around $250 for Fiscal Year 2020. Town Accountant Brian Perry sent a memo to the selectmen for their Monday meeting confirming that the state had ratified the tax rates, and they were slightly lower than the town assessor's projections. The residential tax rate is 13.58 mills, while commercial, industrial and personal property taxes will see a rate of 30.59 mills.

With the 13.58 rate, the average tax bill will be $6873, for an assessed home value of $506,113. Wilmington homes appreciated about 5 percent on average, crossing the half-million mark for the first time. The average non-residential property, meanwhile, will see a tax increase of over $1600.

At a meeting in November, the selectmen had voted for a maximum tax shift, meaning non-residential property owners will pay 175 percent of what they would if the town had a uniform rate. At a uniform rate, both classes would pay 17.49, under the assessor's projections. At a 175 shift, the assessor, Karen Rassias, projected a residential rate of 13.59, just above the state-certified number.

With the maximum shift, residential taxpayers will pay about 60 percent of the taxes. Under a uniform rate, they would have paid over three-quarters.

Rassias noted that the year's 5 percent increase in average home value is a smaller increase than in the prior year, when home values increasd more than 6 percent.

Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.