On September 14, 2009, Watertown became the last Connecticut town to adopt a mill rate for Fiscal Year 2009-10. Attached is an Excel spreadsheet containing effective property tax rate increases for the latest budget season. It also has a ranking of property and state income tax burdens by town for taxpayers in single family houses.
The median effective property tax rate increase was 0.91%, the lowest in over a decade. For the 10 years before this year, the median annualized increase was 3.68%, with the lowest median increase for a fiscal year during that period being 2.35%. This year's median increase was achieved despite minimal grand list growth and slight decreases in state aid to most towns. It was made possible by curbing spending increases. For example, the median spending change for referendum towns was a DECREASE of 0.07% compared to increases of 3.62%, 5.01%, and 5.23% for the prior three years.
The towns with the biggest effective tax rate decreases this year were Milford, Beacon Falls, and Bridgewater. The largest increases were in Bridgeport, Chaplin, and Hartford. The typical town came in with an effective tax rate increase this year about one-fourth of their usual increase. However, the effective tax rate increase for the year or even over the prior decade does not indicate the tax burden in a town. For example, East Hartford had the third lowest effective property tax rate increase for the decade ending with FY 2008-09, but ranks 147th of 169 towns for one property tax burden measure for FY 2008-09. That tax burden measure is defined as the median tax divided by the median income for taxpayers in single family houses (there are many other ways the tax burden could be defined). The tax burden is not a measure of the efficiency of a town's government.
Tax burdens for both property (house plus motor vehicle(s)) and state income were calculated for each town. In measuring the tax burden for a town, only taxpayers in single family houses were considered to provide a more consistent comparison since towns have varying proportions of apartment, condo, and multi-family households. Apartment dwellers do not directly pay property taxes (it is part of the rent payment) and condo property taxes are generally lower than for single family houses. The property and state income tax burdens would be lower than what is presented if all households were included and not just households in single family houses.
Property taxes are for the October 2007 Grand List (FY 2008-09) and labeled 2008 property taxes even though installment payments do extend into the next calendar year. Income and state income tax liabilities are for calendar year 2008 and again, only for those taxpayers in single family houses. Income taxes are for taxes paid to Connecticut plus credit for income tax payments to other states.
The attached spreadsheet shows the ranking of the tax burden by town with the smaller numbered ranks corresponding to the lower tax burdens. The actual "median" tax burden by town is not displayed in the spreadsheet but a percentile distribution of the "median" tax burden values of the towns for property and state income taxes respectively are shown below:
5.00%: 4.18% and 2.83%
10.00%: 4.31% and 3.17%
25.00%: 4.71% and 3.45%
33.33%: 4.94% and 3.50%
50.00%: 5.34% and 3.60%
66.67%: 5.75% and 3.76%
75.00%: 6.10% and 3.84%
90.00%: 6.70% and 4.16%
95.00%: 7.37% and 4.39%
For this tax burden median measure for dwellers in single family houses, the property tax burden significantly exceeds the state income tax burden. Only a couple of towns have their "median" state income tax burden exceed their "median" property tax burden (using totals and not medians for measuring the tax burden would yield different results). The recently enacted tax changes in the state budget won't change the above relationships since state income taxes are being increased on households already well above the median income.
The town budget adoption season is drawing to a close. Bozrah is the only town without an adopted budget at this point although their mill rate has been finalized and the tax rate increase was 3.85%. A second referendum vote has been scheduled for September 30. The budget total is decreasing by 2.44% from last year's total but mainly as a result of an accounting change. If approved, spending would be higher than that rejected in the first referendum and only decrease by .01% compared to the prior year's adopted budget. Of the 75 towns that had at least one budget referendum, Colebrook came in with the largest spending decrease. I'll send a spreadsheet with other budget season details (same format as prior years) after the Bozrah vote occurs.
Bill Generous
Windsor, CT
The median effective property tax rate increase was 0.91%, the lowest in over a decade. For the 10 years before this year, the median annualized increase was 3.68%, with the lowest median increase for a fiscal year during that period being 2.35%. This year's median increase was achieved despite minimal grand list growth and slight decreases in state aid to most towns. It was made possible by curbing spending increases. For example, the median spending change for referendum towns was a DECREASE of 0.07% compared to increases of 3.62%, 5.01%, and 5.23% for the prior three years.
The towns with the biggest effective tax rate decreases this year were Milford, Beacon Falls, and Bridgewater. The largest increases were in Bridgeport, Chaplin, and Hartford. The typical town came in with an effective tax rate increase this year about one-fourth of their usual increase. However, the effective tax rate increase for the year or even over the prior decade does not indicate the tax burden in a town. For example, East Hartford had the third lowest effective property tax rate increase for the decade ending with FY 2008-09, but ranks 147th of 169 towns for one property tax burden measure for FY 2008-09. That tax burden measure is defined as the median tax divided by the median income for taxpayers in single family houses (there are many other ways the tax burden could be defined). The tax burden is not a measure of the efficiency of a town's government.
Tax burdens for both property (house plus motor vehicle(s)) and state income were calculated for each town. In measuring the tax burden for a town, only taxpayers in single family houses were considered to provide a more consistent comparison since towns have varying proportions of apartment, condo, and multi-family households. Apartment dwellers do not directly pay property taxes (it is part of the rent payment) and condo property taxes are generally lower than for single family houses. The property and state income tax burdens would be lower than what is presented if all households were included and not just households in single family houses.
Property taxes are for the October 2007 Grand List (FY 2008-09) and labeled 2008 property taxes even though installment payments do extend into the next calendar year. Income and state income tax liabilities are for calendar year 2008 and again, only for those taxpayers in single family houses. Income taxes are for taxes paid to Connecticut plus credit for income tax payments to other states.
The attached spreadsheet shows the ranking of the tax burden by town with the smaller numbered ranks corresponding to the lower tax burdens. The actual "median" tax burden by town is not displayed in the spreadsheet but a percentile distribution of the "median" tax burden values of the towns for property and state income taxes respectively are shown below:
5.00%: 4.18% and 2.83%
10.00%: 4.31% and 3.17%
25.00%: 4.71% and 3.45%
33.33%: 4.94% and 3.50%
50.00%: 5.34% and 3.60%
66.67%: 5.75% and 3.76%
75.00%: 6.10% and 3.84%
90.00%: 6.70% and 4.16%
95.00%: 7.37% and 4.39%
For this tax burden median measure for dwellers in single family houses, the property tax burden significantly exceeds the state income tax burden. Only a couple of towns have their "median" state income tax burden exceed their "median" property tax burden (using totals and not medians for measuring the tax burden would yield different results). The recently enacted tax changes in the state budget won't change the above relationships since state income taxes are being increased on households already well above the median income.
The town budget adoption season is drawing to a close. Bozrah is the only town without an adopted budget at this point although their mill rate has been finalized and the tax rate increase was 3.85%. A second referendum vote has been scheduled for September 30. The budget total is decreasing by 2.44% from last year's total but mainly as a result of an accounting change. If approved, spending would be higher than that rejected in the first referendum and only decrease by .01% compared to the prior year's adopted budget. Of the 75 towns that had at least one budget referendum, Colebrook came in with the largest spending decrease. I'll send a spreadsheet with other budget season details (same format as prior years) after the Bozrah vote occurs.
Bill Generous
Windsor, CT