Frequently Asked Questions

• Real Estate: All real property listed on the current Grand List.
• Personal Property: Equipment owned by industry, commercial furniture and fixtures, unregistered motor vehicles, campers and horses.
• Motor Vehicles: All motor vehicles registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles. These vehicles are coded by the tax town and the Assessor is provided a list of registered vehicles annually by the DMV

You may be eligible for one or more of the following exemptions:

• Veterans having served during a time of conflict
• Spouse of deceased veteran
• Blind
• Totally Disabled
• M.V. of active duty service person stationed out of state
• Farm/Forest/Open Space

Homeowners: If you or your spouse are 65 years of age or older, or disabled and own your own home, you may be eligible for a tax credit through the elderly/disabled low income** homeowners program. The filing period is February 1 through May 15 to receive this benefit on your July bill. Renters: If over 65 or disabled, you may qualify for a rebate check from the State of CT. Filing period is between April 1 and October 1

In May of each year, the budget is voted on by the taxpayers at the Annual Town Meeting. If passed, the mill rate is set immediately following the meeting. The property tax rate is expressed in mills or thousandths of a dollar. This year’s tax rate (mill rate) 20.84 (this was set May 2021) is equal to $20.84 per $1,000 of net assessed value.

Personal Property, other than registered motor vehicles, is assessed at 70% of its value, as determined by use of straight line depreciation, as of October 1, 2020. Real Property is assessed at 70% of its value as of October 1, 2019, the date of the last revaluation. Registered Motor Vehicles are required to be assessed at 70% of the average retail value, using the October edition of the NADA cost guides, with the exception of Antique vehicles (20 years or older), please contact the assessor's office for more information

If you think your property assessment is not accurate, you may request the Assessor to review it. You also have the right to appeal your assessment to the Board of Assessment Appeals (BAA). The BAA meets in March. You must file an application to the BAA by February 20th that you intend to appeal. (Note: if an extension for filing the Grand List is granted, the dates become April and March 20th, respectively.) Applications are available from the Assessor’s Office. The BAA also meets in September for motor vehicle appeals only. It is not necessary to file an application for the September meeting.

If you took the Plate from one vehicle and put in on another vehicle, you do not have to do anything. The billing will follow that plate. If you did this after October 1, 2020, the bill that you receive in July 2021 will be on the old motor vehicle, and next January you will received a pro-rated tax bill on the new motor vehicle, with a pro-rated credit from the old motor vehicle applied to the new motor vehicle

Any plates that are not being used should be returned to the Department of Motor Vehicles as soon as possible. If the plates are not returned or cancelled, they are listed as active until they expire and will continue to generate a tax bill. If you cannot find the plates or they are vanity plates that you want to keep, you must file a lost or stolen plate form with the DMV in order to cancel the registration.

You pay the July 2021 motor vehicle tax bill to the town you were residing in on October 1, 2020. If you did not change your address with the DMV please do so as soon as possible. The DMV sends your motor vehicle listing to the town that is on the address of your registration, as of October 1, 2020. If the address is wrong, it will go to the wrong town and have to be transferred once appropriate proof is submitted. We do not pro-rate between towns.

The motor vehicle tax bill you receive in July 2021 is based upon the registration of that vehicle as of October 1, 2020. With the proper proof, your motor vehicle bill may be deleted or pro-rated depending upon when you moved or sold the vehicle
In order to make an adjustment you must provide proof to the Assessor. In addition to a plate receipt from the DMV, one of the following forms of proof may be used:

• Copy of bill of sale
• Copy of title transfer
• Out of state registration
• Insurance company statement showing total loss
• Junked Vehicle receipt
• Copy of purchase agreement if traded in

If you still have the vehicle, it is still taxable. You are required by state statute to claim this as an unregistered vehicle on the personal property form that can be obtained in the Assessor’s Office.