[Yankeerose00]

I've been reading this forum for days and it is truly full of such helpful people. My husband and I now live in VA and we want to move to Connecticut within the next year. I'm from NJ originally and he is from Florida but we've both spent enough time in NE to know that CT is the place for us. I can go on and on about the things I love about CT and why it is my favorite state. So far, my only real "issue" has been the property taxes. Wow, I was not expecting what I saw. My friend in Monmouth county NJ pays around 5k for her taxes.
Then I read an article recently that said CT has the highest or 2nd highest taxes and the article stated that "Places like Greenwich pay on average 5k a year in taxes". So I thought, "Well, if someplace expensive like Geenwich pays 5k, then surely the areas around Hartford where we are looking will be less money."
Wrong.
I'm finding that the towns that have the more affordable housing are also the towns with the highest mill rates. So I'm paying one way or the other. Either my mortgage or my property taxes will be high. The thing is, we can afford to pay higher taxes. But my parents are retired and living in Tennessee and I want them to come live close to me. I just don't see how a retired person can afford to pay property taxes.
Do retired people get any type of tax breaks in CT?
But anyway, here are the mill rates. Anyone know why the more affluent areas pay so much less? I had my heart set on finding a house around Granby. I found a house that was around 450k. Not a huge house but a nice, decent colonial with a couple of acres.
So am I correct to figure 70% of 450k times the mill rate of 34 would mean that this house has taxes of over 10k a year?
My husband is in IT and it seems that he really won't be making much more money moving from Richmond,VA to Hartford. He makes right around 90k now and our property taxes are only 2k a year.
Thanks so much for any info!

okay I had to edit. For some reason the list won't post. But anyway, why is a town like Granby have a 34 mill rate but Westport only have a 12? I would think residents in Wesport could afford higher property taxes.
Also, having lived in Fl and VA, I'm used to property taxes being around 2k a year. Are there really any extra benefits I can expect to see with higher taxes? I know schools are great, but I'm 36 and don't have children so schools really aren't that important to me. Are there any other benefits to higher taxes? I just wondering what they do with all of that money, lol.

[skytrekker]

I can tell you here in Vernon (north central eastern CT) I pay 2672.00 per year for a 1991 built 1100 square foot townhouse. Taxes have increased for these reasons; At the last assessment in 2001 - the market value of this townhouse was about 98K- from 2001-2006- the date of the last reevaluation the value of the unit climbed from 98K to 175K.

Actually taxes declined from 2001-2005 from $2100 a year to under $1900- in all fairness the increased value of the real estate- should see my taxes increase. Considering the value is over 80% higher, and my taxes are only 25% higher- I should not complain too loudly. I am still ahead economically.

[dawnmarie728]

I can't really answer your question, but wanted to comment that this is one of the big reasons we are looking to move out of CT! We live in Enfield and our mill rate has increased every year since we have been here (over 10 years). You would not believe what I pay in taxes on a 1200 sq ft ranch with .25 acres. It is just plain crazy!!

[Yankeerose00]

It saddens me to see people just taxed to death. My dad's family is from Naugatuck, then later they moved to NJ. I grew up in NJ, and moved w/ the family to Florida when I was 18. From the time I moved there, I knew that the south was NOT the place for me. I hated it. Then I met my husband and his job moved us to VA. I do like it here. But it's been my dream to get back up north. I should have been born a New Englander. It's where my heart has always been. There is no place I feel so at home as when I'm in NE. I adore CT the most and I will not be happy until I can take up residence there.
BUT I spent 15 years in Florida surrounded by people who moved there from NE/NY/NJ and if I even mentioned that I hated Florida and couldn't wait to get back north, they would spend 15 minutes telling me how crazy I was, and how I would be taxed to death and then go on and on about how the weather was so great in Florida.
Well, now that I live in VA, I can say that it's too hot for me here, and I will be happier further north. So they were wrong about the weather. Not everyone likes it hot all year round like they do in FL. But I'm seeing that they were right about the taxes. It's daunting if nothing else.
I'm also worried about my parents. There is no way they could afford high taxes on their social security. They don't like where they are now in Nashville but it is much more affordable for someone on a fixed income. It seems the more I'm researching CT is that it's a more friendly state for people with careers who can earn money, not retired people.
Looks like mom and dad will be living with us because someway, somehow, I'm getting out of the south and never looking back. I'll save my thoughts for the south for another post.

[JayCT]

Each town in Connecticut sets its own mill rate which is based upon the value of taxable property in town and the amount of money the town needs to provide services. Westport has a very high number of pricey homes and commercial real estate so that is why Westport has a lower mill rate. Be aware though that just because the mill rate is low does not mean the taxes will be low. A modest home in Westport can be assessed at $1 million and have a $12,000 tax bill.

Do not assume that because you are paying $450k for a home, that the taxes are going to be based on the $450k figure. The assessed value of a home is determined by the town independent of what you pay for it. Rather than trying to figure out the town with the lowest taxes, look at the taxes of homes in your price range and see if they fit in your budget. It is unlikely (but not impossible) that the $450k home you are interested in will have a tax of $12,000. It will most likely be around $8,000 or $9,000. remember too that you will be paying taxes on your cars as well here in CT, so you should figure that into your budget as well.

As for your parents, well you are correct that it is expensive for retirees to live here because of the tax burden. There are some programs to help but it is not going to be a lot. Jay

[Yankeerose00]

We have car tax here in VA also. We have a Ford Escape and pay around $250 a year for it. They bill us twice a year, January and July.
Is CT much higher for car taxes and also how do they bill you?
When we moved to VA people had me freaked out over car taxes and really, they are no big deal. We also have to pay personal property taxes on my husband's computer since he has his own business.
VA has a lot in common with NE in many ways, including having lots of taxes, but they taxes themselves aren't that high. Not around Richmond, anyway.

[glxyman21]

You generally can't compare towns on millrates because each town has property that is valued differently. Normally, the case is that if the town is more expensive the mill rate will appear lower but only because property is assessed high, the opposite with cheaper towns. For correct data you can ask the realator what the house is assessed at and last years tax bill. It is all public information which can be retrieved from each town's assessors office. I'd say for a house your size the bill would be in the $7,000+ a year range.

For your parents, you can look into adding a grandparent/parent apartment onto the house you purcahse. Many people do this option as their parents can live independently but also still be with the family. You will have to check zoning regulations for the town you purchase in, but if you have alteast a half acre it shouldn't be a problem.

[AmyBergquist]

A word of caution, often you will find that the town's actual assessment of a house is not close to the asking price. In some parts of the country this is true, but I've found it to be quite the opposite in towns in Greater Hartford. So, if you're looking at a house that is listed at $450K, the town may have assessed it for much less, and taxes will be less than you're budgeting. It depends on how many years ago the town did their assessment and how prices have changed since then. CT law requires towns to re-value every 5 years, however, sometimes towns apply for extensions.

[Yankeerose00]

I guess what threw me about the tax rates is that people living in affluent areas in million dollar homes are paying the same as someone in a small rurual town. Just referring to the one house I looked at in Granby that was 500k , I would be paying 11,900 in taxes! It doesn't make sense that someone living a house twice that amount is paying the same or less in taxes.

I hate to talk about how they do it in the south, but it's totally different. It's actually pretty simple. The more expensive the house and the closer the house is to a city, the higher the taxes. The more rural and small a town is the less the taxes. Of course you are also taxes on the size of your house. But a 2000 sq foot home an hour from a major city is not going to have a fraction of the property tax as a 4000 sq foot home in or close to the city. Also, the further you move from a city, the cheaper the housing gets.
Connecticut is totally different and it's throwing me off a bit.
I'm having a hard time finding a town because I'm seeing that getting further out in the country is not only not cheaper, but sometimes it's more expensive. But now I also see that cheaper housing also brings higher property taxes, too. It's not discouraging me, it's just making it a bit harder to search.

We were talking about an inlaw suite for my parents. It may be the only option. I don't know how seniors do it. My parents get under $1000 a month each for SS.

[glxyman21]

Connecticut's housing prices for towns are not based so much on location, but rather desireability of the town itself. There are towns in Western Connecticut in Litchfield county that are in the country but are expensive. In Eastern Connecticut where you get the same country atmospshere, housing is cheaper. Even crossing town lines have their differences. Going from Hartford (with a mill rate of about 50 into West Hartford with a mill rate in the 30's will give you a minimum of a 30% jump in prices. Taxes on the other hand, you will most likely pay more in West Hartford than the same house in Hartford because the valuations and "desirability" for many is a lot lower, even though West Hartford has a lower tax rate.

Westport has a low millrate only because property there is so expensive. Many people will most likely end up with a higher property tax bill in Westport than for the same property in Granby.

Most of the money goes into town government. One reason for the expense is that there is no regionalization. Each town has duplicate services of school, fire, police, sewer, water, etc- no economies of scale. Another thing, because it costs more to live here, salaries have to be higher so property tax has to be higher to pay town workers along with any building and contruction projects(vicious cycle). Another- older infrastructure like roads, pipes, bridges, etc. There are other things that are not budgeted down south; snow removal in winter and salt/sand for roads then sweeping those roads in spring and cleaning out the storm drains from the sand left over. Some towns collect leaves which is an added cost. Then add in all the unfunded CT mandates for schools and towns and this is what you get. FYI about 75% of town budgets go to schools.