Tag Archives: Taxes

Reporting

Distribution of Residential Real Estate Taxes

Property taxes fund a meaningful part of Hartford’s budget. The City has a split tax system in which residential real estate is taxed at a lower rate than other property types.

Specifically, single-family homes, two-family homes, three-family homes, condominiums, and a couple other smaller property classes are assessed at about 30% of Market Value (as of Grand List 2013). The State standard assessment ratio used by all other Connecticut municipalities, and used for other property classes within the City, is 70% of Market Value.

Taxes = (Market Value) * (Assessment Ratio) * (Mill Rate/1,000)

For the current fiscal year, which utilizes Grand List 2013, a residential property with a market value of $150,000 will owe about $3,335 in annual taxes. The effective tax rate is about 2.2% of market value.

The City Assessor’s office provided data for all the real estate that qualifies for the reduced residential assessment ratio for Grand List 2013. Using this list, the current assessment ratio of 29.93%, and the current mill rate of 74.29, the annual taxes were calculated.

The chart below shows how the annual residential properties taxes were distributed. For example, there were 6,608 properties that owed between $3,000 and $3,999, which is shown as the “$3,000s” in the chart.

2015-01-27 Residential Property Tax Distribution

There were 17,126 residential properties in the dataset. The average annual bill was about $3,240 and the median annual bill was about $3,182.

Reporting

Distribution of Motor Vehicle Taxes

Motor vehicles are taxed at the municipal level in Connecticut. The City of Hartford’s mill rate is the highest in the state, at 74.29 mills in the current fiscal year. Hartford residents, therefore, pay the highest car tax rate in Connecticut.

The vehicle tax calculation begin with a State-provided schedule that gives a car’s market value based on its year, make, and model. It is an automated step that does not allow municipalities to make adjustments for a vehicle’s condition.

Motor vehicles are assessed at 70% of the market value, and the mill rate is applied to the assessment.

Annual Tax = (Market Value) * 70% * (Mill Rate/1,000)

For the current fiscal year, which is utilizing Grand List 2013, a vehicle with a market value of $10,000 will owe $520 in taxes for the year. The effective tax rate is about 5.2% of market value.

Vehicles are constantly being added to, and removed from, the tax roles. The City Assessor’s office provided a snapshot of the vehicles that were registered in the City on October 1, 2013, which is the valuation date for Grand List 2013.

The chart below shows the annual tax amount along the horizontal axis in bands of $100. The vertical axis shows the number of vehicles that owe annual taxes in each of the bands. For example, there were 8,873 vehicles that owe taxes in an amount between $200 and $299, which is shown as the “$200s” in the chart.

Distribution of Motor Vehicle Tax Amount

There were 46,107 vehicles in the data set. The average annual bill was about $498 and the median annual bill was about $321.