Property Taxes In Every Town: Who Pays The Most, Least In CT?

CONNECTICUT — Connecticut residents pay some of the highest property taxes in the nation, but rates can vary significantly from town to town.

The Torrington Lakeridge Tax District has a mill rate of 88.45, which is the highest in the state. Salisbury has a mill rate of 11, which is among the lowest for a municipality in the state.

Property in Connecticut is assessed at 70 percent of fair market value, except in Hartford, which has different assessment rules for commercial and residential property.

A home that would likely sell for $300,000 on the open market is assessed at $210,000. 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.

Mill rates are only part of the equation when it comes to property tax bills. In general, towns that have higher property values tend to have lower mill rates. Greenwich, where the median home sale price rose to $2.3 million in 2021, has one of the state’s lowest mill rates at 11.59.

Connecticut, like most of the country, has experienced dramatic home price growth since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. Homeowners in towns that recently had a property value reassessment could get higher tax bills, even if the mill rate decreased.

Connecticut home sale prices, which are a factor in property valuations, have skyrocketed since the beginning of the pandemic. The median sale price of Connecticut homes reached $396,000 in July 2022, compared with $370,000 in July 2021 and $280,000 in July 2019, according to Redfin.

Municipalities also tax motor vehicles, but the state caps the rate at 32.46 mills; municipalities with rates above that are reimbursed by the state. The car tax is often lamented as one of the most regressive in Connecticut, since the same exact car is taxed differently depending on where it's parked overnight. Gov. Ned Lamont pitched the car tax cap as a way to make sure people didn't pay more tax on a Honda in Hartford than a Hummer in Harwinton.

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, West Haven has three fire district taxes, with mill rates ranging from 10.29 to 11.61

Check the table below for your town's mill rate, or click here.