Stafford's Mill Rate Dropped by a Third. Why Did So Many Tax Bills Go Up?

"That, in a nutshell, is the reason why tax bills are higher. Not because the Town is spending more money," Board of Finance Chair Steve Geryk said at a June 25 meeting, as reported by the Stafford Free Press. "Not because we're asking the taxpayers to pay more money. It's just how the burden was changed."

Stafford's mill rate went from 38.59 in fiscal 2025-26 to 25.59 for fiscal 2026-27. That is a cut of about a third. Many homeowners still opened bigger bills this summer. For anyone comparing Stafford with nearby towns, the headline rate is the least useful number on the page. What matters is how much one property's assessment rose compared with everyone else's. There is also a detail that matters during a transaction. The 25.59 rate on this year's bills is not the rate tied to the budget voters finally approved.

Four Referendums and a Rate Set Before the Budget Passed

Stafford needed four votes to pass its fiscal 2026-27 budget. Bills had to go out before that happened, so the town's own records show this sequence:

1. May 5, 2026. Voters rejected a $48,797,716 budget, 1,026 to 579.
2. June 2, 2026. The second referendum failed, 1,103 to 813.
3. June 2026. The Board of Selectmen set a 25.59 mill rate so tax bills could be issued.
4. June 22, 2026. Bills were mailed. The first installment was due July 1 and could be paid without interest through August 3.
5. June 23, 2026. The third referendum failed, 957 to 795.
6. July 7, 2026. The Board of Finance approved a $47,867,028 budget at 25.35 mills.
7. July 29, 2026. The fourth referendum passed, 764 to 727.

Connecticut law allows for this. A Connecticut Office of Legislative Research analysis explains that when a town fails to set a tax rate, for example because voters rejected the proposed budget, the Board of Selectmen must set one. That rate must be based on the latest completed Grand List and be high enough to cover expenses.

The approved budget came in at 25.35 mills, but the bills had already gone out at 25.59. At the June 25 meeting, a board member asked what would happen if a later referendum lowered the rate. Geryk replied that "the actual mill rate, as set by the BOS, will not change." The minutes record him adding that any extra tax collected could reduce the following year's budget. The board came back to this on August 20. Collections at 25.59 are expected to exceed what the budget needs by about $309,000. Town finance staff said that money is meant to offset the fiscal 2028 budget, and Geryk asked for a line item to track it. The August minutes call the July 29 vote the "3rd referendum." The town's budget page lists it as the fourth.

The tax collector's notice says Stafford does not re-bill January installments. None of the town records reviewed for this post mention corrected bills.

Other towns have handled interim billing differently. Colchester's July 2026 notice said it billed at the prior year's adopted rate and would send supplemental bills after adopting a budget if needed. Stafford billed once at 25.59 and is carrying the difference forward.

The Rate Fell Because the Base Grew Faster

Stafford's mill rate moved several times this spring. Each figure was tied to a budget proposal at that stage:

The cause of the lower rate is in the Grand List. Stafford's five-year revaluation valued property as of October 1, 2025, and the new values first showed up on bills in July 2026. The April budget proposal reported $1.111 billion in real estate value. The year before it was $693.866 million, which works out to about a 60% increase. The total Grand List was $1.296 billion. With a base that much larger, each mill now raises about $1,295,680, according to the Stafford Free Press.

If every property had risen in value at the same pace, a lower rate on a bigger base would have left most bills about the same. That did not happen. Board of Finance sample calculations reported by the Free Press show residential property at about 66% of the Grand List in fiscal 2026 and more than 75% in fiscal 2027. The apartment share rose 112%. Commercial and industrial values stagnated, according to the board. In the town's examples, the residential and apartment properties pay more and the commercial property pays less.

The Threshold Number for Any Single Property

Here is the arithmetic that matters in a comparison. Going from 38.59 to 25.59 mills means a property's assessment had to rise by about 51% just for its bill to stay flat. A property whose assessment rose more than that pays more. One that rose less pays less.

At last November's revaluation meeting, the assessor gave two sale-price examples. An 1895 house sold for $170,000 in 2020 and $330,000 in January 2025, a 94% increase. A two-bedroom condo's sale price rose 164%. These are sale prices, not assessments. Still, they show how the math plays out. If an assessment rose 94% and the rate dropped to 25.59, the bill would be roughly 29% higher. At 164%, it would be roughly 75% higher. This is only an illustration and should not be read as any owner's actual bill. Geryk said that in every case he and local agents had checked, the assessed value was below what the house would likely sell for now.

This explains the gap between the headline and people's bills. Single-family homes and condos appreciated quickly between Stafford's 2020 and 2025 valuations. Commercial property did not keep up. So in the same town, under the same budget, a house or condo can see a much higher bill while a storefront on Main Street sees a lower one. If you are comparing Stafford with a town that has not revalued recently, its mill rate is measuring a different base.

Why Stafford Cannot Tax Property Types Differently

One idea comes up often: set a separate, higher rate for commercial property. The Stafford Free Press looked into it and found that Connecticut does not allow property tax classification without state action. It cited a 2019 bill that would have allowed different mill rates by property type. It also cited Hartford's Tax Cap program, which gives owner-occupants a credit paid for by a surcharge on other property owners. Geryk said the only route to change is through the state, which requires revaluation every five years. No revaluation phase-in for Stafford homeowners was reported.

The assessor's page lists existing tax relief programs, including an elderly and totally disabled homeowner credit with age or disability, income, and filing requirements. The page does not present it as a response to the revaluation.

What This Changes When You Read a Stafford Listing

Most of the friction shows up in the tax line. Bills on the October 1, 2025 Grand List are the first under the new values. A tax figure carried over from an older listing, or a seller's bill from before July 2026, comes from the old assessment at 38.59 mills. For the current fiscal year, 25.59 is the rate in use. The 25.35 figure tied to the approved budget does not appear on bills, and the town's online tax calculator labels it "proposed."

The type of property also matters. The revaluation examples suggest condos and smaller single-family homes, which appreciated fastest, are more likely to have crossed the 51% threshold. Commercial property moved the other way, and apartment buildings saw the largest increase in their share of the Grand List. For a small multifamily property, compare the current assessment with the prior one. The old tax bill alone will not show the change.

The $309,000 overcollection is a future-year item. The Board of Finance has said it is meant to offset the fiscal 2028 budget, so it would affect next year's rate-setting and not this year's bills.

Questions Buyers Ask About Stafford's 2026 Bills

Will owners get a refund for the gap between 25.59 and 25.35? None of the town records reviewed describe refunds or re-billing. The Board of Finance minutes say the extra collections are planned as an offset to the fiscal 2028 budget.

Will the January 2027 installment change? The tax collector's notice says the town does not re-bill January installments. No town source we found explicitly addresses whether this year's January amounts will be adjusted.

Did the town spend more this year? The fiscal 2026-27 proposal planned to raise less through taxes than the year before. The approved $47,867,028 budget is smaller than the $48,797,716 version voters rejected in May.

When could the balance shift again? State law requires revaluation every five years, so the values set as of October 1, 2025 will shape Stafford's bills until the next one.

If you are weighing a Stafford home against one in a neighboring town and want the tax side put on equal footing, Pam Moriarty Real Estate can show you how a property's assessment moved and what that means for the cost of owning it. Schedule a free consultation.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.