Recently, there has been chatter on Facebook about Old Saybrook’s mill rate, and some even positing that our taxes are higher than other shoreline towns. Not true!

For those unfamiliar with the term, a mill rate is a figure many municipalities use to calculate property taxes. One mill is 0.1 cents or one-thousandth of a dollar. Thus, a mill rate of 1 means you pay $1 in taxes for every $1,000 of your property’s assessed value. Every town has its own mill rate, with the average mill rate in Connecticut at 31.50. Hartford has the highest property taxes in CT, with a mill rate of 68.95. Salisbury has the lowest mill rate at 11.00.

Fiscal year 2023 mill rates on the shoreline:

East Lyme: 23.84

Old Lyme 23.50

Old Saybrook: 20.08

Westbrook: 20.76

Clinton: 29.83

Madison: 29.97

Guilford: 33.25

In fiscal year 2024, beginning July 1, there is a nominal increase to Old Saybrook’s mill rate. The mill rate increase (00.38) is below average when you consider Old Saybrook’s mill rate history (since 2000), a huge win given the inflationary world around us. And don’t forget Old Saybrook has an excellent rainy-day fund, falling debt service, and strong capital reserves.

Credit must ultimately be given to Old Saybrook’s Republicans for providing the leadership and consistently demonstrating the ability to set the right fiscal priorities again and again. This municipal election, I know I’ll be voting for the Republicans who are working for us!

Len Mariani

Old Saybrook