With 2020-2021 Budget, Westport Gives Taxpayers A Slight Break

WESTPORT, CT — As Westport and other Connecticut communities 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 town recently wrapped up its work on next year's budget, which takes effect on July 1, and it includes a small cut to bring the mill rate down to 16.71; the current mill rate is 16.86.

For 2020-2021, Westport's budget totals $212,772,828, up $1,012,735 from the current year's expenditure of $211,760,093, or an increase of 0.48 percent.

"The RTM passed the town and school budgets for fiscal year 2021, resulting in an overall increase of less than half of a percent," First Selectman Jim Marpe said last month in a statement. "The town's triple A rating from Moody's has been reaffirmed."

The mill rate represents $1 for every $1,000 of assessed value in a property, or in this case, $16.71 for every $1,000 in assessed value.

For example, a $1 million property would be assessed at 70 percent of its value, or $700,000. With a mill rate of 16.71, that property's tax bill would be $11,697; if the mill rate had remained at 16.86, the tax bill would be $11,802.

To help keep taxes down, the town intends to use more than $2 million from its General Fund, writes the Westport News. The General Fund is the town's surplus or reserves, which currently totals about $26 million.

As is always the case, the town's education spending commands more than half of the overall budget. For 2020-2021, Westport will spend $131,429,948 to keep its schools among the best in the state, an increase of 2.41 percent over the current year's tally of $128,341,889.

Other highlights from the 2020-2021 budget:

• Spending on Public Safety will total $22,448,674, up 1.78 percent from this year's allocation of $22,056,664
• Public Works spending will total $11,559,196, up 5.39 percent from this year's expenditure of $10,968,369
• The expenditure for Parks & Recreation will total $6,478,298, up 1.36 percent over this year's spending of $6,391,276