Westport’s net 2018 Grand List of $11,311,830,644 is up 1.07 percent over last year, according to Assessor Paul Friia.
Friia released these figures Tuesday when he announced that he signed the Oct. 1, 2018 Grand List as required by state statute.
The 1.07 percent increase is the lowest in recent years, and follows a 1.52 percent increase in 2017.
The list is the sum of the net assessed value of all taxable property: real estate, motor vehicles and personal property.
Motor vehicles and personal property are valued annually, while real estate is updated based on the market values determined as of the town’s last revaluation Oct.1, 2015.
Friia said there were increases in all three categories. He said the 1.05 percent increase in real estate assessments of $10,657,747,748 is a result of continued residential and commercial new construction and renovation activity that occurred within the last assessment year.
Friia said the new apartments at 1177 Post Road East, for example, increased the list by more than $9.8 million over the past year.
He added that while motor vehicle assessments of $341,640,457 had only a .1 percent increase, business personal property saw a 2.6 percent increase with a net assessment of $313,442,439.
According to the report, improvements from new tenants and investments from existing ones throughout town helped to provide this growth.
While this year’s increases were more conservative than the past two years, Friia said, “It still indicates Westport remains a community of great interest to businesses and new residents.”
Friia said the Grand List will be used for the fiscal year 2019-20 town budget calculations.
He added that the above figures are subject to change based on the outcome of the Board of Assessment Appeals hearings in March and further changes due to corrections or pending lawsuits.
