South Windsor is a beautiful town full of shops, historic landmarks, and home town restaurants. However, South Windsor has experienced tremendous growth. Although it’s great that South Windsor is becoming such a populated town, the more people that are moving, means the more demand for housing. This means that housing has to be built. The problem with that is the more demand for housing can change the rate of taxes. The question is… where is South Windsor headed?

Every day, more families move to South Windsor because it’s a safe town and the school district is highly ranked as #1,613 in the nation. South Windsor has a 98% graduation rate, higher than Connecticut’s average rate, which is 90%. About 44 houses were sold in January of 2023, almost double from the 23 houses that were sold during the same time last year. Nonetheless, as the population of South Windsor increases, it stands to reason that the increase of population in public schools will also increase. While South Windsor is known for its outstanding schools, those schools were built to hold a certain number of students. As a result of the population increase, the district has had to add portables to some of the elementary schools.

The average price for a single family home in South Windsor is currently listed at $354,500, but it didn’t start out that way. In August 2022, the median price for a home was $352,000, but during December of 2022 the median house price dropped dramatically to $318,750. It wasn’t until recently that the price of homes skyrocketed.

Since last year, South Windsor has been a seller’s market, meaning that in South Windsor the price of homes increased due to the demand for housing. Housing has increased by exactly 11.1% since January 2022. South Windsor is currently the third most expensive town to live in. It costs 0.6% more to live in South Windsor than to live in the neighboring town of Manchester.

Where tobacco once grew on Connecticut farmland now lies a Home Depot factory, and across from that a Coca Cola factory. Home Depot was said to boost South Windsor’s retail economy. The Home Depot was named to be one of South Windsor’s three major tenants to arrive. The town council approved a 7 year tax abatement plan for the buildings, but in return for this plan, the buildings have to invest at least 50 million back into the distribution center. This plan is supposed to reduce taxes by about 50% which is a tax benefit. This in return will be totaling the taxes to about $309,925 a year and 2.7 million over the 7 year agreement. Officials said that the tax will be around 300,000 a year.

With all of these buildings being built, South Windsor residents are concerned about the raise in their property tax. On Tuesday Night January 3rd at 7:00pm , Councilwoman Erica Evans was questioned on this matter and what this means for South Windsor residents. The town’s manager Michael Maniscalco said that South Windsor current tax rate is 38.77 mills and one mill is $1,000 in assessed property.

“What we would appreciate is that the Town Council think of all the residents and remember that many people are still out of work due to COVID and many prices have increased for all of us,” said a resident in a letter to the Town Council.

The tax jump is scaring the people of South Windsor, so a petition has made its way around Facebook with 86 signatures thus far saying that the town council should include not implementing the revaluation this year, or consideration of a phased-in plan over a number of years. Councilwoman Evan said, “ We will determine this in our budget,” and to calm the minds of the town, she said that the town overall will not see an increase in taxes based on the current revolution.

With the increase of house prices and the population of South Windsor going through the roof, South Windsor becomes less homier and more expensive. Who knows if the tax will increase or decrease over the next couple of years. Only time can tell what the future holds for South Windsor’s economy, will it become too much of an expense or will south Windsor stay the town that grows on people and is an enjoyable place to live?