Bucking the trend

Wilmington tax bills to drop as those in other nearby towns rise

On Main Street in Wilmington, there is new construction behind Market Basket. Across the street, the new Wilmington Crossing mall has opened.

In this season of uneasiness and discontent, Wilmington residents got an unexpected shot of good news recently: For many of them, their property tax bills will go down next year.

The average tax bill, on a house assessed at just over $380,000, will decrease about $48 in 2009 compared with this year, city officials say, a rarity in a region where taxes are going up. In Wilmington, homeowners are benefiting from a $44 million increase in the town's nonresidential property values.

"Everyone's holding their breath with the economy this year," said Humphrey Monihan, Wilmington's principal tax assessor. "We've had some good news in an otherwise bleak season."

Good news was scarce this tax season: Houses are worth less, but they will cost more for their owners.

In Concord, where the average property value on a single-family house dropped nearly 5 percent to $899,866, the 2009 tax bill will go up $583, almost 6 percent. In Belmont, as property values on the average single-family assessment dropped 2 percent, taxes will increase $299, or 3.5 percent.

In Dracut, the average assessment on a single-family house fell about 1.5 percent, as the average tax bill increased by $46, about 1.5 percent. In Burlington, the average tax bill on a single-family house - assessed at $405,680 for 2009, down less than 1 percent - will go up about $113, or 3 percent.

In Woburn, as in Wilmington, many homeowners might see their tax bill shrink slightly next year. The City Council was expected to set the tax rates Tuesday night. If they made no changes to the city's tax structure, the average single-family home, assessed at 349,504 - about a 6 percent drop from this year - would carry a tax bill of $3,387, down about $14 from this year.

In Wilmington, a trip down Main Street, the busy Route 129, helps explain why many taxpayers here will pay a little less next year. Wilmington Crossing, a new strip mall anchored by Staples, opened earlier this year. In front of the mall sit several new buildings, including a silver space-age design of a new Danversbank. A new pizza restaurant, Kendra & Anthony's, was launched in May by Joe Prezioso, a longtime Wilmington resident and chef who named the place after his two young children.

Prezioso shares a small building with a new Starbucks, with a drive-through. Across the street, bulldozers are working to expand Wilmington Plaza. Charles River Laboratories recently expanded its Wilmington offices.

The average tax bill is decreasing in this town of 21,363 even as the residential property tax rate - for 2009, $10.60 per $1,000 of assessed value - is increasing by about 4 percent. Property values dropped about 5 percent. But Wilmington property owners will pay less, on average, largely because of the town's increase in taxes collected from nonresidential property.

In Wilmington, about half of the increase in the nonresidential tax base came from increases in commercial and industrial property. But the largest boost came from the category that includes utility and cable companies. A new state law allowed towns to tax, for the first time, those company's poles and wires. In Wilmington, that brought in an extra $375,000.

Home values across the country are plummeting: Zillow Real Estate Market Reports announced this week that, across the country, homes would lose an estimated $2 trillion in value. Since property tax bills are calculated partly on home values, many taxpayers had expected to see lower bills next year.

But that hasn't happened in most communities. As property values drop - and all other sources of income are unchanged - towns and cities need to increase the tax rate just to bring in the same amount of money, officials say. And as the economy slows, so has commercial growth in many communities.

"I think Wilmington is somewhat of an anomaly," Monihan said. "It's got a greater commercial and industrial base than most people realize."

Monihan and his colleagues found themselves in the unusual position this year of delivering good news. Still, homeowners were cautious.

"Obviously, taxes going down is good because things are tight and every little break you get can help," said Teri Donovan, who shares a house in town with a friend. "We're not really earning more, we're earning less because we're in our 60s."

Yet the promise of a slightly smaller tax bill isn't enough to keep them in town: Their house is on the market as they look for a smaller place. Will they stay in Wilmington?

"No, can't afford it," she said. "We're going to have to move a little bit further out. . . . You go to a town where taxes are a little bit lower, that doesn't have the amenities Wilmington has."

And others, though they had heard that tax bills may go down, were skeptical.

"We'll see what happens," said Joseph Junek, as he headed into Market Basket last week.

Jerry DeJongh suspected his taxes might increase, based on the assessment of his house, but he wasn't grumbling.

"In general, Wilmington has lower taxes than many of the towns in Massachusetts for the services that we get," he said. "So even if mine does go up, I can't complain."

Kathleen Burge can be reached at kburge@globe.com.