West Hartford Taxes Going Up, Here's How Much

WEST HARTFORD, CT — Now that the West Hartford Town Council has adopted a town/school budget for 2025-26, taxpayers need to be prepared to pay for it this summer.

That's because, according to town officials, the cost of operating both town services and schools has gone up and, as such, tax bills this year are going up by 5.74 percent.

It means most homeowners will be spending hundreds of dollars more in taxes this year compared to last year.

The council April 22 voted 6-3 along party lines, with GOP members opposed, for a $367.73 million town/school budget for 2025-26.

Since West Hartford Town Manager Rick Ledwith presented his initial $370.29 million budget proposal to the town in March, council members and staffers sliced $2.558 million from the package.

That has slightly cut the tax increase from before, but those taxes are still going up by nearly 2.5 mills.

Much of the increase is due to across-the-board hikes in the cost of operating the town/schools, from insurance costs, staff salary increases mandated by contracts, and other initiatives.

As for the tax impact, the new budget now requires a real estate/personal property mill rate (the rate paid in taxes) of 44.78 mills — an increase of 2.43 mills (down from 2.86 mills from march's budget).

What this means is if your home is assessed at $300,000, taxes will go up by $729 in addition to what your tax bill was a year ago.

Motor vehicle taxes, per a state mandate, are capped at 32.46 mills, according to Ledwith's report.

Ledwith reflected on the budget process, which started in March when he presented his proposal and ended with the council vote on April 22.

"Our theme at the time was navigating challenges with strength and purpose and it has served our leadership very well as our guiding principle throughout what has been a very complex and thoughtful process," Ledwith said April 22.

"We had been faced with rising costs, economic uncertainty, increasing demands for services and, through collaboration, community input, and disciplined decision making, we have arrived to where we are this evening.

"We have worked diligently to mitigate its impact while still preserving the high-quality services our residents expect," Ledwith said.

Democrats on the council said the tax hikes were necessary to maintain existing services/operations, not something anyone wants to do.

"This is hard. It is the hardest thing we do, it's the most important also," Democratic West Hartford Mayor Shari Cantor said. "This year we had a collaborative effort and we worked together over the year, very differently than in many other towns."

She said challenges can arise and, in some years, cause much angst for local leaders and taxpayers alike.

"There's certainly uncertainty, more in this year than previous years, and that is so hard," Cantor said. "With this particular budget, it is, we believe, what is necessary. It is what we need to meet the expectations of our community."

Republicans said the tax hike is, simply, too high.

Councilperson Mary Fay, the senior Republican on the town council, said the initial budget proposal pitched was a "non-starter for me," adding it was just way too high.

The budget voted on, she said, was still too high and a flat budget with no tax hike was possible, something Fay said happened in 2018.

"I think we have to focus on needs versus wants," Fay said. "In really tough times, which we're in right now, we really, really have to think about needs versus wants."

Fay expressed significant worry for seniors and their ability to even continue to live in their homes while their taxes skyrocket.

"We have a great town. We have a lot of services and a lot of great things that our residents enjoy," she said April 22. "And that's terrific, but I think, in really tough times, which we're in right now, we really have to think about needs versus wants."

For the minutes of the April 22 West Hartford Town Council meeting, click on this link.

From March 12: 'West Hartford Faces Skyrocketing Taxes This Budget Year'