Danbury Coronavirus: Property Taxes Deferred

DANBURY, CT — The deadline for residents, businesses, non-profits, and landlords who have been financially impacted by the new coronavirus to pay their property taxes has been deferred, Mayor Mark Boughton has announced.

The City Council approved the "COVID-19 Tax Deferral Program" at their virtual meeting earlier this month.

The next payment, which normally would have been due in May, is now due July 1. The following payment, which had a July deadline, has now been deferred to Oct. 1

In a news conference livestreamed on Thursday night, Boughton said he was only doing what made sense: "I know that you do not have money, 25 to 35 percent of the people have lost their jobs! You can't pay your taxes, you can't afford an increase to your taxes, so we'e doing everything we can to get that number as tight as we can."

The city collects about $40 million in taxes each quarter, Boughton said, so the deferment of two quarters worth of revenue is going to sting, a lot.

"We are not adding new programs, we are not hiring new people. I have implemented a hiring freeze. Even vacancies we have, I am not going to fill them," the mayor said. "It means we're going to have to sacrifice... City employees, myself, as well as our taxpayers, to make this thing work."

The deferment of taxes is not automatic. Residents and businesses must have been financially impacted by the virus outbreak, and must request the deferment.

The forms to fill out, and more information, are available on the city's website.