Westport Cut Its Tax Rate by 30 Percent. Why Did the Average Bill Go Up?

If a Westport listing shows an "annual taxes" figure, find out which tax year it covers before you rely on it. The town's 2025 revaluation set new assessments on the October 1, 2025 Grand List, and the first bills based on them came due in July 2026. A tax figure carried over from the prior fiscal year is based on assessments and a mill rate that no longer apply.

The new numbers favor commercial property over homes, and they favor homes south of I-95 over homes north of it. A buyer comparing Westport with Fairfield, Norwalk or Darien on carrying cost needs both of those facts. The 30 percent drop in the mill rate tells you neither.

The math behind a lower rate and a higher bill

Westport's mill rate for fiscal year 2027 is 13.2, down from 18.86, a reduction of 30.1 percent. Over the same period the average residential assessment rose from $998,697 to $1,557,757, an increase of 55 percent. Former Board of Finance chair Brian Stern explained the numbers in his Westport Journal analysis of the FY 2027 budget.

That works out to about 9 percent more for the average house. Town spending rose 5.36 percent in the same budget, so the bill grew faster than the budget did. The article ties most of the gap to "a shift in the mix of residential versus commercial property."

The rate cut has a break-even point. Since 18.86 divided by 13.2 is about 1.43, a property whose assessment rose by roughly 43 percent pays about the same as before. If the assessment rose more than that, the bill went up. If it rose less, the bill went down. The average home rose 55 percent, which puts it above the line.

Homes gained value faster than the commercial tax base

Through the 2020 to 2025 cycle, Westport residential property rose an average of 61 percent and commercial property rose 17 percent, according to Assessor Paul Friia. The February grand list report gave the real estate figures as 60 percent for residential and 16 percent for commercial. It also noted that real estate makes up 95 percent of the grand list.

The mill rate is the town's tax levy divided by the net grand list. For FY 2027, that meant $226.7 million spread across about $17.2 billion of taxable value. When homes account for a larger part of the grand list, they carry a larger part of the levy. Finance Director Gary Conrad called the outcome a rebalancing of who pays, as CT Insider reported in June. The same report said some homeowners could see increases as high as 60 percent.

The Westport Journal identified three causes. The prior cycle had little price inflation. The pandemic shifted where people chose to live. And many older houses were torn down and replaced with larger ones that carry higher valuations.

Westport was not unusual in this. Friia said its increases were in line with nearby towns, and residential values in Fairfield rose 64 percent in that town's own cycle. Stamford's residential values rose 25 percent in its cycle. Because each town revalues on its own schedule, the size of a jump depends partly on when the town last reset.

North of I-95, assessments rose more

The townwide average hides a geographic split. Friia reported that residential values north of I-95 rose about 66 percent on average, compared with about 57 percent south of the highway. That reverses the usual pattern, in which values closer to Long Island Sound have tended to rise faster.

These are value changes, not tax changes. Applying the break-even arithmetic from above gives a rough comparison:

1. A home whose assessment rose 66 percent at the 13.2 rate pays about 16 percent more than it did under 18.86.
2. A home whose assessment rose 57 percent pays about 10 percent more.
3. A home whose assessment rose less than about 43 percent pays less than before.

The town cautions that every property is valued individually and that a given house may not match the average for its area. Even so, the split changes the familiar comparison between the shoreline and the northern half of town. For a buyer weighing a house near Long Island Sound against one north of the Merritt-to-I-95 band, the price gap and the tax gap may not track each other the way they did before the revaluation.

The appeals show how far individual assessments varied

The Board of Assessment Appeals received about 370 appeals this spring: 305 residential and 66 commercial. Appeals reduced assessments by a total of $16,483,057, the CT Post reported in April.

• About 136 of the 305 residential appeals ended with a lower assessment.
• Two properties had their assessments raised, by a combined $187,900.
• Among the largest residential reductions were $1,589,500 and $1,231,400.
• The board did not hear the 64 commercial appeals involving assessments above $1 million. The assessor said those owners could go directly to Superior Court.

Some of the earlier complaints, which the Westport Journal reported in March, were about valuations that looked inconsistent with nearby properties. One homeowner argued that a smaller-lot property had been valued above nearby homes on larger lots.

For a buyer, this means the assessment on a particular house may have been changed after the revaluation notices went out. It also means two similar houses on the same street can carry different tax bills. When the bill is the only way to compare carrying costs, it should be checked separately for each property.

Estimating a Westport tax bill

The Westport Assessor's Office explains that Connecticut assesses property at 70 percent of estimated fair market value. The tax is the assessed value divided by 1,000, multiplied by the mill rate. Using that formula, a home the town values at $2.4 million would have an assessment of $1,680,000. At 13.2 mills, the annual bill would be $22,176.

Some timing details from the Westport tax calendar affect how listing figures and closing adjustments line up:

• Real estate tax is billed in four installments, due July 1, October 1, January 1 and April 1. Each has a one-month grace period before penalties apply.
• October 1 is the Grand List date, which sets assessments for the following year's taxes.
• The October 1, 2025 Grand List is the first one based on the revaluation, and its bills started in July 2026.

Any tax figure from before July 2026 comes from the old assessment and the 18.86 rate. To get a figure on the current basis, look up the property's assessment on the October 1, 2025 Grand List and multiply it by 13.2 mills.

Thin closing volume makes price figures less reliable than tax figures

Westport's price data has been unsteady this fall. SmartMLS figures for September 2026 show a single-family median sale price of $1,724,938, down 14.4 percent from September 2025. That median came from only 16 closings, half as many as a year earlier. The year-to-date median through September 30 was $2.4 million, up 4 percent.

Supply sent mixed signals too. At the end of September 2026, Westport had 69 single-family homes for sale, 18.8 percent fewer than a year earlier. Months of inventory still rose 59.3 percent, to 4.3, because closings fell faster than listings did. Homes that sold in September averaged 39 days on market.

With only 16 sales, one month's median can move sharply depending on which houses happened to close. The tax side is different. The mill rate, the 70 percent ratio and each property's assessment are fixed and published for the fiscal year. Among the costs of owning a Westport home this fall, the tax bill is the one a buyer can calculate exactly before making an offer.

FAQ

Did Westport phase in the revaluation? The town's FY 2027 tax calculation applies the full new average assessment at 13.2 mills, which produces the published $20,562 average bill. The Assessor's Office can confirm how a specific property was treated.

Does a higher assessment always mean a higher bill? No. Westport Journal's analysis points out that what you pay depends on your property's share of the grand list and on town spending. At the FY 2027 rate, an assessment that rose less than about 43 percent results in a smaller bill than before.

Where did residents first raise concerns about the shift? On February 12, the 06880 blog published an analysis arguing that the revaluation would move a larger share of town costs onto homeowners. It estimated an increase of about 11 percent for an average home, based on the mill rate projected at that time.

If you are weighing a Westport home and want the tax line checked against the current Grand List before you make an offer, the Dannel Malloy team can compare carrying costs on the properties you are considering in a confidential conversation. Sellers can also request a confidential valuation that reflects the post-revaluation numbers buyers are now seeing.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.