With mill rate set, property owners can now estimate their July tax bills

The Woodbridge Board of Selectmen voted unanimously during a brief special meeting on June 1 to adjust the town's FY2027 tax rate, lowering the proposed mill rate from 34.02 to 33.99 mills for real estate and personal property. The meeting consisted primarily of the vote to amend the tax levy and mill rate calculations to reflect updated revenue estimates (see agenda).

The action followed recent developments at the state level that increased the amount of revenue Woodbridge is expected to receive from Connecticut and clarified the authority of municipalities to make late adjustments to tax rates after local budget adoption. The additional state aid involved totaled approximately $40,897 for Woodbridge, reducing the amount to be raised through local taxation.

Under the revised figures approved by the Selectmen at the June 1 meeting, the FY2027 budget remains unchanged at $62,277,237 — a 1.93% increase in spending over the current fiscal year. However, due to the adjustment of revenue from the state, the amount that must be raised through local property taxes was reduced to $57,312,183.

As a result, the mill rate for real estate and personal property was lowered from the 34.02 mills previously anticipated to 33.99 mills. The motor vehicle mill rate remains set at 32.46 mills, at the state-capped limit.

While the Town's FY2027 spending increases by 1.93% overall, the revised tax levy increases by 4.86% following the June 1 adjustment. That figure is down slightly from the 4.93% increase originally adopted at the Annual Town Meeting, but remains more than twice the rate of budget growth. As the Woodbridge Town Chronicle previously reported (see articles February 7, 2026 and May 22, 2026), a major factor is the $1.67 million reduction in state motor vehicle tax reimbursement, which significantly reduced state revenue available to support the Town's FY2027 budget and increased reliance on local property taxes despite relatively modest spending growth.

With Woodbridge's tax levy now set for the fiscal year beginning July 1, a home assessed at $400,000 — equivalent to a market value of approximately $571,000 under Connecticut's 70% assessment ratio — would see its annual property tax bill increase from approximately $13,048 to $13,596, an increase of about $548 per year, or 4.2%. The increase for an individual property owner is lower than the 4.86% increase in the overall tax levy because the levy is now spread across a larger grand list following last year's revaluation and subsequent growth in taxable property values.

Readers can use the tax calculator accompanying this article to estimate their FY2027 property tax bill using the newly adopted mill rate.

The Board's action on June 1 concluded a process that began after the state announced revised municipal aid figures that resulted in Woodbridge receiving additional state revenue (see WTC article May 4, 2026) beyond the amounts incorporated into the FY2027 budget recommended by the Board of Finance and subsequently deemed adopted at the Annual Town Meeting.

While Woodbridge's Charter generally assigns responsibility for laying the tax and setting the tax levy to the Board of Finance following the annual budget process (see Charter §6-2(k)), the June 1 action occurred under legislation approved by the General Assembly during the final days of the 2026 legislative session to address concerns raised by municipalities regarding the ability of towns to adjust mill rates after budget adoption when updated state funding information becomes available (see CT Mirror).

The language appears in Section 15 of Public Act 26-130 (formerly House Bill No. 5563), which provides that, “notwithstanding ... any special act, any municipal charter or any home rule ordinance,” municipalities receiving more state aid than originally projected may amend their budgets and adjust their tax levies. The law further specifies that in municipalities where the legislative body is a town meeting, “the board of selectmen” may amend the budget and “adjust the tax levy” by July 1, 2026.

The use of the word “notwithstanding” in this legislation indicates that the state law takes precedence over conflicting provisions elsewhere. In this case, the legislation appears to have superseded Woodbridge’s normal Charter procedures by authorizing the Board of Selectmen to adjust the tax levy, a responsibility ordinarily assigned to the Board of Finance.

The action illustrates the extent to which the General Assembly may, through specific legislation, override provisions of municipal charters when addressing statewide fiscal or administrative issues.

The legislative fix in Section 15 of PA 26-130 applies to municipalities that “have adopted a budget or levied taxes ... prior to the adoption of the state budget” for FY2027. Connecticut lawmakers approved the FY2027 state budget on May 2 (see CT Mirror), and Governor Ned Lamont subsequently signed the budget into law as Public Act 26-68 on May 26 (see press release). Meanwhile, Woodbridge’s FY2027 budget was deemed adopted following the conclusion of the Annual Town Meeting on May 18 (see WTC article May 26, 2026). Town officials subsequently cited guidance from the Office of Policy and Management and advice from the town attorney in proceeding with the Board of Selectmen’s June 1 action to adjust the tax levy and mill rate.

The Selectmen’s special meeting lasted approximately 11 minutes. While no video recording appears to have been posted to the Town's YouTube channel, the official meeting minutes were posted on the Town website on June 5, four days after the meeting.