After last year’s property revaluation, Westport homeowners received letter with their new figures.
The 2025 Grand List — the sum of the net assessed value of all taxable property (real estate, motor vehicles, and personal property) — was released too. Driven by the revaluation, residential properties soared 60% from 2024.
Some Westporters — assuming their local taxes would rise by a similar amount — freaked out.
Andy Bangser is a lifelong Westporter and 1972 Staples High School graduate, who moved back in 1989. He is a founder of Foundation Source. More recently he has built AI-powered websites, including The Ledge — a site that decodes Congressional bills into plain English. He offers this help, understanding the revaluation and taxes:
Property revaluation letters landed recently. The natural response is: what happens to my tax bill?
Property revaluation does not mean taxes will rise the same amount.
While I’m not an expert in this area, and do not speak for the town, I can do the math.
The mill rate will drop — but not enough to offset higher values.
Westport’s total property value (the Grand List) jumped 50.6% since Covid. If town spending stayed flat, the mill rate would fall from 18.86 to about 12.52.
But that’s not the end of the story:
- Spending won’t stay flat. Each 1% increase in the town budget adds roughly 0.125 to the mill rate. If the 2026-27 budget rises 4% — a reasonable estimate — the mill rate would be about 13.02.
- Home values rose 61% while commercial values increased only 16%. That means our homes will shoulder a larger share of the cost of town services. I estimate commercial property taxes will go down more than 20%.
Commercial properties like Bridgewater Associates’ Nyala Farm headquarters did not rise nearly as much as residential ones.
How your tax is calculated:
Mill rate × assessed value ÷ 1,000
(Assessed value is 70% of estimated market value.)
Most homeowners will pay more.
If your home’s assessment rose near the town average (about 61%), your tax bill would increase roughly 11%, even with the lower mill rate. That’s 1.61 times 13.02, divided by 18.86.
Location matters.
These are just averages, but according to town assessor Paul Friia, as reported in Westport Journal:
- North of I-95, home values rose about 66% on average.
- South of I-95, values rose 57%.
Your actual increase depends on how much your assessment increased relative to the rest of the town.
Still unknown:
The final town budget is not set. Appeals could also change the Grand List. Those 2 factors will determine where the mill rate ultimately lands — and how much we will pay.
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With some added nuances, such as movements in cash into or out of what is known as the Town’s general fund, this is essentially spot on. The mill rate will indeed go down, by a lot. What really matters is the budget itself and, more to the point, the DOLLARS your household is responsible for, and the annual growth rate thereof. The mill rate itself can be something of an abstraction (in my view), though I assure you that we are trying to keep it as low as possible. For a great primer on how all of this works, I’d recommend former BOF chair Brian Stern’s recent op-eds in the Westport Journal. (From a current BOF member)
I did the math too. When the town inflated the assessment on my uninsulated, antique, increasingly flooded grass hut by an astonishing 72.32%, I knew I was very likely facing a tax increase. While I’m highly focused on addressing my particular situation, the broader implications of this revaluation effort trouble me. It feels like we’re on our way to becoming a monoculture of affluent education tourists.
I have done nothing to improve my property in 5 years, zip, zero. My assessment went up 78% vs the others on my street were 63% on average.
My appeals have fallen on deaf ears. The whole process is a farce that will unfairly cost me more than $20,000 over the next 5 years.
The appeals board is a dictatorship and part of the town – the fox guarding the hen house – and we need an independent arbitration process.
I’ve opined many times that when Frank DeMace and Mario Sacco died and the last Nistico family member left town it was time to hit the road for Florida. It took AI to confirm my wisdom. Just don’t try to leave in a self-driving car. It may break down and leave you stuck in South Norwalk (aka “Sono”).
Words of wisdom. Self driving cars can let you down. That’s why I always keep a pair of self walking pants in my trunk.
Good idea. Next to the Depends 💀👻
Whoa. Too much information.
🤗🫡🥳
Unless you pay in mills that number is simply a factor and largely a red herring. Given the payment is in cash the only useful YTY comparative is how much the bill (not the mill) changes. With the BOE budget increasing 5% it’s a fair assumption that the bill will go up. We pay for what we ask, and we get outstanding schools and safety services. But that does make Westport the highest taxing town in CT per capita (the best comparison metric)
The article mentions that if your assessment has increased 61% (the town average) then your real estate tax will go up about 11% – in dollars. Some will be higher, some lower of course.
Andy,
How does the fact that commercial property values increase well less than as to homes impact the final outcome. I would have thought that since commercial properties had a lower increase that will mean that the home portion will bear a greater portion of the mill rate calculation. I have also been told that is not accurate. I know that the commercial values are a rather small portion of the total Grand List. Comment?
Don – I believe one mill rate applies to all properties, residential and commercial. The average commercial property will see a decrease in taxes of about 20% in dollars. That’s a 16% higher assessment offset by a much lower mill rate.
I lived in Westport for many years from the very late 1950s to the mid 1980s. I enjoyed all the advantages of Long Lots Jr. High and Staples High School. Consider yourselves extremely lucky to have these schools. I now live in Rocky Hill, CT. For the record, my Rocky Hill house has a Zillow value of $550,000 and my Rocky Hill property taxes are $9,800 a year. I looked at my old Westport house and the Zillow value is $1.2M and the property tax is just under $10,500. So, the property value is more than double and the property taxes are about 10% higher.
Conclusion. You might say that your Westport taxes aren’t that bad.
The celebrities and capitalist robber barons are paying the lion’s share.
Is the 61% increase based on an actual price increase or on both price increases and the increase in the size / quality of homes? In other words, does the 61% increase include new construction and improvements to existing property (say, on an additional sq ft basis) or is it only on price per sq ft? If it is the former, are there data to show the latter (which would be less than 61%)?
This would be more relevant to a homeowner trying to understand how his property’s appraisal has changed relative to the average homeowner.
Presumably new construction and home renovations increase the Grand List and thereby lower the mill rate. The Grand List grew by 50.6% due to the collective effect of housing inflation, new builds, commercial property values, autos etc. But you only need to divide the town’s budget by the Grand List to estimate the new mill rate and your own tax bill.
tell me if I’m
right or wrong, but isn’t this whole process accomplished because of an assessment process done physically at the property site…. in person by the hired parties? This was the practice in previous decade assessment
Did Selectwoman Tooker feel this process was not necessary this time?
The process is described here: https://www.westportct.gov/government/departments-a-z/assessor-s-office/2025-revaluation-summary
Thank you Andy. Hence, the decrease in taxes paid by the commercial properties will be made up by the increases in home valuation taxes, i.e. the commercial properties will bear a smaller portion of the total tax bill starting in 2026.