Darien's 2020-2021 Budget Offers Residents A Slight Tax Cut

DARIEN, CT — As Darien and the state continue to grapple with the economic slowdown from the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, local residents will receive a slight break in their 2020-2021 property tax bills, according to officials.

The tax break is due to next year's adopted budget of $147,544,069, which represents a 0.21 percent decrease over the current year's allocation of $147,859,097. The difference between the two budgets is a little over $315,000; the 2020-2021 budget takes effect on July 1 and runs through June 30 of next year.

With the drop in spending next year, the budget includes a small cut to the mill rate, bringing it down to 16.33 mills; the current year's mill rate is 16.47.

The mill rate represents $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value in a property, or in this case, $16.33 for every $1,000 in assessed value.

So for next year, for example, a $1 million property would be assessed at 70 percent of its value, or $700,000. With a mill rate of 16.33, that property's tax bill would be $11,431; if the mill rate had remained at 16.47, the tax bill would be $11,529.

The 2020-2021 budget breaks down like this:

• Board of Education: $102.5 million or 69 percent of the overall budget
• Town operations (government, police, fire, public works, etc.): $30.7 million or 21 percent
• Debt service (payments on money borrowed): $8.9 million or 6 percent
• Contribution to the Darien Library: $4.0 million or 3 percent
• Capital contribution (town projects): $1.5 million or 1 percent

To view Darien's adopted 2020-2021 budget, click here.