City's Grand List up

Despite suffering the worst economy since the Great Depression, Bristol saw its Grand List rise by $31 million last year.

“We’ve been very, very fortunate,” Mayor Art Ward said Friday.

The new growth, much of it at ESPN, will mean an additional $804,000 in city property taxes, said city Comptroller Glenn Klocko.

The extra cash will help officials struggling to cope with sinking revenues and rising costs.

City Assessor Tom DeNoto said that ESPN, which is easily the biggest taxpayer in Bristol, led the way in adding to the city’s $4.3 billion tally of taxable property.

He said the Bristol-based worldwide sports leader has property worth nearly $500 million when its leased quarters are factored in. ESPN is “a huge contributor” to the overall tax base, DeNoto said.

“ESPN helped drive the way significantly for us. We’re proud of that,” Klocko said.

With plans for continued growth, ESPN could soon be responsible for a greater percentage of the city’s tax base than New Departure was at its height, when it paid more than 10 percent of the community’s property taxes.

DeNoto said the city’s reliance on ESPN is “not an overwhelming concern” because the company has always been open about its plans and accommodating to city officials at every turn.

The overall increase was .57 percent, less than the city’s norm during the past couple of decades, but better than last year’s rate of growth, when the tally increased by $10 million.

DeNoto said it is remarkable that a quarter of all the new growth is directly attributable to ESPN.

Also contributing to the growth was a new Dupont Business Archives on Halcyon Drive, the new CMI Specialty Products on Redstone Hill Road and other modest additions to the tax rolls.

Ward said the city’s long-term effort to attract new business and new emphasis on helping existing ones expand in Bristol is paying off. Maintaining a business-friendly atmosphere in the city is crucial, the mayor said.

The city also picked up almost $8 million in new value from its motor vehicle lists this year.

DeNoto said he thinks a number of people took advantage of the “Cash for Clunkers” program last summer that spurred automobile sales. The new cars are worth more than the old ones traded in.

He said that used gas guzzling pickup trucks and other large vehicles went up in value because the market for them got better after the gasoline price spikes of the previous year. That also helped the Grand List, DeNoto said.

Klocko said that some of the surrounding towns did “a little better than us” in terms of percentage increases, but because Bristol’s taxable property is worth more generally, the new revenue is more significant.

It’s not clear whether next year will be rosier.

“It also looks better for the future,” Klocko said, with ESPN’s day care center coming this year and another new building in the works that would be chock full of high-technology equipment.

But DeNoto said there are “way too many variables” to know how the overall picture will turn out.

Still, he said, “All indications are that we should have some growth.”

There were 54,190 motor vehicles on the rolls for the October 1, 2009 Grand List. That compares to 54,479 last year and 54,671 at the end of 2007.

It’s been at least half a century since Bristol saw a decline in the number of cars and trucks for two consecutive years.

The Grand List does not include hundreds of millions of dollars worth of exempt property, including Bristol Hospital, churches, cemeteries and parks.
The final taxable property numbers are likely to be adjusted slightly by mid-April after assessment appeals are decided.

People who want to challenge their new assessments have until February 20 to file the necessary paperwork with the assessor’s office. The Board of Assessment Appeals will consider appeals in March.

TOP 10 Taxpayers

1. ESPN $263.4 million
2. COVANTA BRISTOL $42.7 million
3. BRISTOL CENTER $36.3 million
4. CONNECTICUT LIGHT & POWER CO. $32.4 million
5. CARPENTER REALTY CO. $24.8 million
6. BRISTOL COMMONS $22.5 million

7. SUPERIOR BUSINESS PARK $20.5 million

8. LAKE COMPOUNCE $18.8 million
9. BRISTOL PLAZA $16.7 million
10. THEIS PRECISION STEEL $15.6 million
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Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com