Press Release, Town of North Branford

Municipalities in Connecticut are required to update property values every four years. The State of Connecticut moved up North Branford’s revaluation from the 2025 Grand List to the 2024 Grand List in the interest of uniformity.

Revaluations of real property are essential to updating property values to match current market prices, making sure everyone contributes no more or no less to the Town’s levy.

As most of you are aware, home prices have substantially increased since our last revaluation in 2020. The median increase for us is 36%, which is consistent with the rest of the state. Several towns which recently implemented revaluations are Cheshire (32% increase); Madison (30% increase); Watertown (43% increase).

When the town reassesses property values, and they go up, it doesn’t automatically mean you’ll pay more in taxes. Here’s why:

Your Taxes Depend on Two Things: Your property’s assessed value and the mill rate (the tax rate). In Connecticut, property tax rates are expressed in Mills or Mill Rates. One mill is equal to $1 tax for each $1,000 assessed. For example, a property tax rate of 35.93 mills or .03593, when expressed in decimal form) results in the payment of $35.93 for each $1,000 of a taxable property’s assessed value.

What Happens When Values Go Up: If all property values in town go up but the town’s budget doesn’t change, the mill rate is adjusted downward to balance things out. This keeps the total amount of taxes collected roughly the same.

The Result for You: Even though your property assessment increased, the lower mill rate could mean your taxes stay the same—or even go down—if the town’s budget doesn’t increase. Please keep in mind the mill rate is usually established in late spring.

Your new valuations/assessments are based on sales of comparable properties over the last twelve months. Taxpayers may compare their increases with their neighbors. Every home is unique which makes the comparison anecdotal. It is recommended that you compare the new value to your “best estimation” of what you believe your home would sell for today.

You will receive the revaluation notice in the beginning of December. The revaluation company will provide their phone number if you have any questions and/or if you would like to meet with an appraiser from the company. I strongly recommend informing the representative if you have a recent appraisal of your home.

Please remember there are more avenues of appeal available starting with the Board of Assessment Appeals in March of 2025.