Meriden City Council adopts reduced mill rate

MERIDEN — City Council voted unanimously to set new property and auto tax rates at a special meeting Thursday night.

The vote comes more than a week after the board passed a $208.87 million budget for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1.

The new mill rate for real estate and personal property in the city’s first tax district will be 32.99 mills per $1,000. The motor vehicle tax rate for the first arrondissement will be 32.46 thousandths.

The new mill rate in the second tax district will be 2.03 mills higher than the first tax district. So, for real estate, properties will be taxed at a rate of 35.02 mills per $1,000.

The new mill rates represent decreases from their current rates, which are 40.86 mills for properties located in the first arrondissement and 43.53 mills for properties in the second arrondissement.

Councilor Yvette Cortez, who chairs the finance committee, presented a motion to adopt the mill rate. The motion is seconded by Councilor Nicole Tomassetti.

Cortez made the only remarks before the board’s unanimous vote.

“I want to thank everyone for all the hard work they put into putting together this budget…we were able to get the (mill rate) down as low as possible, and we were still able to fully fund the Board of Education and all the other projects the community has told us we need,” Cortez said. “So I would recommend adoption.”

Last week, the council’s vote to pass the $208.87 million budget was cross-party — with Democrats voting in favor and Republicans, joined by We the People adviser Bob Williams Jr., voting against. .

Only a few residents addressed the council on Thursday ahead of its vote on the new rate per mile.

Michael Rajewski criticized the budget for increasing spending.

“We didn’t hear anything about the article cuts throughout the process,” Rajewski said. “There are no layoffs”

Rajewski expressed concern about the budget’s impact on residents with fixed incomes.

The vote follows a lengthy state-mandated reassessment of properties across the city.

According to figures previously shared, the average residential property has seen its estimated value increase by 35%. However, officials said the average taxpayer’s bills would not rise substantially, given the reduction in per-mille rates.

[email protected]:@MikeGagneRJ