Connecticut Property Taxes In Every Town: Who Pays The Most?

CONNECTICUT — More than 100 Connecticut towns kept their tax rates the same or slightly lower for the new tax year in light of the economic downturn caused the coronavirus.

There were a few notable exceptions. Hamden and East Haven both had tax increases around 6 percent and Middlebury and Derby had increases of 5 percent.

Residential property in Connecticut is assessed at 70 percent of fair market value, except in Hartford, where it is assessed at 35 percent of fair market value.

A home that would likely sell for $300,000 on the open market is assessed at $210,000 everywhere but Hartford. Each town has a mill rate, which is the amount of tax per $1,000 dollars of assessment. A home assessed at $200,000 in a town with a mill rate of 30 would have an annual property tax bill of $6,000.

In general, towns that have higher property values tend to have lower mill rates. Greenwich, where the median home value is over $1 million, has the state’s lowest mill rate at 11.59 for the new tax year.

Motor vehicle taxes are capped at 45 mills. Some state legislators have considered abolishing the town-by-town motor vehicle tax and imposing a statewide rate, but the plan never came to fruition. The majority of Connecticut towns fall under that threshold.

Below are the mill rates for the new fiscal year that recently began and the previous fiscal year.

Some caveats: Hartford has a rare exception to the 70 percent assessment rule. Hartford’s mill rate is set at 74.29, but residential property is assessed at 35 percent of fair market value. That effectively makes Hartford’s mill rate for residential property owners 37.15, according to the city’s website.

Stamford and Norwalk have multiple tax districts depending on the level of services provided by the respective city.

Some towns have a municipal tax and an additional tax such as a fire district tax. This generally adds a couple extra mill rate points to a property owner’s tax liability, but there are some exceptions. Notably, Middletown’s city fire mill rate is 8.4 and West Haven has three fire districts with rates ranging up to 14.02 mill points.

The data is mainly from the state Office of Policy and Management and local towns' data.