#MiddleburyCT #MilRate
By MARJORIE NEEDHAM
An April 28 article in the local daily newspaper stated Middlebury’s 32.60 mil rate would drop by 0.8 to 31.80. Instead, it dropped .08 to 32.52. The difference in tax savings for a home assessed at $500,000 is $400 at the 0.8 decrease compared to $40 at the .08 decrease.
The town will be able to lower the tax rate because it is transferring $515,000 from the undesignated fund to the general fund. At the special meeting of the Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance on May 7, Chief Financial Officer Seth Bernstein explained the mil rate would have increased .44 to 33.04 without the funds transfer.
Selectwoman Jennifer Mahr said via text message, “This was a classic bait-and-switch with an illegal transfer thrown in for good measure. The Board of Selectmen and Board of Finance never talked about using surplus funds to buy down the mill rate, nor was it included in the revenue budget approved by both boards and sent to referendum. The first selectman promised a rather significant mill rate drop despite a budget increase, had the Republican-American sell it for him, and then forgot to check his math after my clear warning on May 5 that the numbers didn’t work. Process exists for a reason, and following it prevents these kind of mistakes.”
Asked about the .8 versus .08 mil rate drop, First Selectman Edward B. St. John said via telephone the question needed to be referred to Bernstein. “Seth handles all that stuff. That’s not something I do,” he said.
The newspaper reached out to Bernstein via email and telephone on May 9. As of May 15, he had not responded.
St. John said, “I don’t care if it’s $1 or $10. Middlebury is the only town in Connecticut to lower its mil rate. Mil rates in other towns increase an average of 4 to 6%. It may not be a substantial amount, but it is still lower. We did our best to help our taxpayers using money we accumulated in previous years to lower the mil rate.” He noted the decrease in the mil rate was done without any cuts to personnel or services.
An online search showed 10 Connecticut towns lowered their mil rates for the current tax year (2024-2025). At this time, Middlebury is the only one that has lowered its 2025-2026 mil rate. However, municipalities have until May 29 to set their new mil rates.
Board of Finance Chairman Vincent Cipriano said, “Ed wanted to do what he could to help the taxpayers. He wanted to reduce the burden on the taxpayers.”
The new mil rate will be used for the tax bills that will be mailed out in mid-June.
