Tax shifts
Would a homestead exemption lower your bill?
The town collects the same total either way. A homestead exemption changes who pays what share of it. This shows who pays less — and who picks up the difference.
Estimates from public data, not your bill.
What's the property worth?empty
Start with your address, or enter a value.
Change the assumptions
The hatched slice comes off the tax rolls. Everything to its right covers it.
Program and rules
What New Milford and East Windsor adopted. Available for the Oct 2026 list.
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Allowed since 2025. Homes assessed above this get nothing but the higher rate.
Both programs let the town require a term of residency.
Annual application. New Milford publishes its list; nobody hits 100%.
Budget increase on top of everything else.
When the real-estate rate is above the cap, vehicles can't absorb any of the shift.
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5000000 dollars
Revaluation
Enfield value change since last reval
East Windsor value change since last reval
Enfield's 42% residential figure is the town's preliminary number from June; the commercial figure is the comparison the finance director cited. East Windsor isn't mid-reval, so it sits at zero. The "reval only" rate is what the council would set with no exemption at all.
East Windsor
Current net grand list about $1.42B. Owner-occupied homes are 45% of itest.; commercial and industrial are 22%.
Hatched: $97.0M removed from the list (6.8% of the base). Everything to its right covers it.
Rate if revenue is held
25.64 → 27.51
up 7.3% for everyone left on the list
or
Revenue lost if rate is held
−$2,485,942
per year, out of a $36,470,257 levy
Enfield
Post-reval net grand list about $4.81B. Owner-occupied homes are 60% of itest.; commercial and industrial are 14%.
Hatched: $432.4M removed from the list (9.0% of the base). Everything to its right covers it.
Rate if revenue is held
26.11 → 28.69
33.11 today, 26.11 after reval alone, up 9.9% for everyone left on the list
or
Revenue lost if rate is held
−$11,290,902
per year, out of a $125,479,636 levy
Owner-occupied (hatched = exempt)Rented 1–4 familyApartmentsCommercial & industrialOther real estateVehiclesBusiness equipment
Same program, same rules, same percentage. The mechanism is identical in both towns; the only difference is how much non-exempt property is left on the list to carry the shift.
Enfield's five fire districts
District taxes are laid on the town's assessment list, which by statute already reflects every exemption. The districts don't adopt the exemption; they inherit it, and each one re-rates to cover its own budget. The more owner-occupied a district is, the bigger its uplift. Rates are the official FY2026 figures; the bases and owner-occupied shares are estimates except for District 1's base.
| District | Base ($M) | Rate | Owner-occ % | Cut | New rate | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enfield Fire District 1 | $122.8M | 3.90 | +11.7% | |||
| Thompsonvilleest. | $27.3M | 6.12 | +5.5% | |||
| Hazardvilleest. | $86.1M | 4.02 | +11.7% | |||
| North Thompsonvilleest. | $30.6M | 3.46 | +9.9% | |||
| Shaker Pinesest. | $60.4M | 4.43 | +10.8% |
How it works
A homestead exemption does not reduce what a town spends. It removes a slice of the grand list from taxation. The budget still has to be paid, so the council either re-sets the mill rate over the smaller list — everyone still on it pays a higher rate — or holds the rate and collects less revenue. Both branches are shown side by side.
The steps:
- Start from the current grand list. Categories come from the state’s Net Grand List by Town dataset: residential, apartments, commercial, industrial, public utility, vacant land, and PA 490 land use, plus motor vehicles and business personal property. Total real property exemptions are spread across the real-property categories in proportion to their size, so the categories shown add up to the net figure the town actually taxes.
- Apply the revaluation. Each category is grown by its own percentage. Enfield’s residential default is the town’s preliminary +42%; the commercial default is the comparison figure the finance director cited, which is an estimate. East Windsor is not mid-reval, so it sits at zero.
- Work out the levy. The current levy is the current rate applied to the current base, then grown by the budget-growth input. The exemption never changes the levy — that is the whole point.
- Find the eligible value. Owner-occupied 1-4 family value, reduced by the share of owners who clear a residency-term rule and by the share who actually file the annual application. Under a percentage program an assessed-value cap can exclude higher-valued homes; under the flat program every eligible home gets the same dollar amount, capped at its own assessed value.
- Solve the rate twice. Once over the full post-reval list and once over the list minus the exempt value. The gap between those two rates is what the exemption costs everyone who is left.
- Apply the motor vehicle cap. Connecticut caps the motor vehicle mill rate. Once the real-property rate rises above the cap, vehicles stop absorbing any share of the shift and the whole burden lands on real and personal property.
The stacked bar is the grand list. The hatched slice edged in red is the value the exemption removes. Everything to its right is what has to cover it.
The fire districts
District taxes are laid on the town’s assessment list, and by statute that list already reflects every exemption the town has granted (CGS 12-133 and 12-55). The districts do not vote on the exemption; they inherit it, and each one re-rates to cover its own budget. The more owner-occupied a district is, the larger its increase. This is worth noting because a district’s taxpayers have no vote on a town-level exemption that raises their district rate.
Simplifications
- Home values follow a lognormal spread around the median rather than actual parcel data. This only matters when an assessed-value cap is set, since the cap’s bite depends on the shape of the distribution.
- “Other real estate” (vacant land and PA 490 land use) is revalued with the commercial percentage, because the town has not published a separate figure.
- Real property exemptions are distributed pro rata across categories. In reality they are concentrated in specific parcels.
- The fire district table uses pre-revaluation bases. Four of the five district bases, and all five owner-occupied shares, are estimates — they are labelled, and replacing them requires each district’s budget documents.
- The flat program’s eligible home count excludes two-family houses, per the statute, but the count itself is an estimate.
- Every eligible owner who applies is assumed to get the exemption, and the cost of running the yearly application process is left out.
- Numbers you type directly into the fire district table are not carried in the link you copy; the sliders and settings above it are.
What would change these numbers most
The single largest lever is the owner-occupied share of 1-4 family value, which is an estimate here. It decides how much of the list the exemption removes. The assessor’s own count of owner-occupied homes would replace it, and would move every figure here.
Sources for this model
Every number this model uses, with where it came from and the date it applies to. Values marked estimate are assumptions, not published figures.
- assessment_ratio · Connecticut official70% as of 2026-01-01CGS 12-62a — uniform assessment rate — Connecticut General Assembly , 2026-01-01Connecticut assesses real property at 70% of market value. Assessed value = market value * 0.70.
- homestead_flat_amount · Connecticut reported$50,000 as of 2027-10-01Connecticut's 2026 Legislative Session Yields Property Tax Changes — Pullman & Comley , 2026-05-06SB 1 secs. 224-225; applies to assessment years beginning on or after Oct 1, 2027; awaiting governor's signature at the time of publication.
- homestead_pct_max · Connecticut official35% as of 2025-06-30CGS 12-81oo — Connecticut General Assembly , 2025-06-30Maximum percentage exemption a municipality may adopt under 12-81oo.
- homestead_pct_min · Connecticut official5% as of 2025-06-30CGS 12-81oo — Connecticut General Assembly , 2025-06-30Minimum percentage exemption a municipality may adopt under 12-81oo.
- motor_vehicle_mill_cap · Connecticut official32.46 mills as of 2026-01-01Mill Rates — CT Office of Policy and Management , 2026-01-01Statutory ceiling on the motor vehicle mill rate. A town whose real-property rate exceeds the cap must levy motor vehicles at the cap, so revenue lost above the cap is carried by real property.
- apartment_units · East Windsor estimate1,200 as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Apartment units, used to express the shift as dollars per unit per year — roughly what a renter would see. Not published; estimated from the apartment grand list.
- grand_list_apartments · East Windsor official$86.56M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31The state's apartment total, $86,562,892.
- grand_list_commercial · East Windsor official$187.98M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31The state's commercial total, $187,977,188.
- grand_list_industrial · East Windsor official$108.09M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31The state's industrial total, $108,092,520.
- grand_list_land_use · East Windsor official$6.79M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31$6,791,000. Farm, forest and open space, assessed under PA 490. Shown here as other real estate.
- grand_list_motor_vehicle · East Windsor official$125.04M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Total net motor vehicle $125,042,220.
- grand_list_personal_property · East Windsor official$128.86M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Net personal property $128,857,683.
- grand_list_public_utility · East Windsor official$20.02M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31$20,023,040. Utility property. Shown here together with commercial and industrial.
- grand_list_real_estate · East Windsor official$1,168.68M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Net real property $1,168,679,894.
- grand_list_real_exemptions · East Windsor official$33.38M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31$33,375,027. Total real property exemptions. Spread across the property types in proportion, so the parts add up to what the town actually taxes.
- grand_list_residential · East Windsor official$782.25M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31The state's residential total, $782,247,606.
- grand_list_total_net · East Windsor official$1,422.58M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Total net grand list $1,422,579,797.
- grand_list_total_real_property · East Windsor official$1,202.05M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31$1,202,054,921. Gross total real property before exemptions. The eight kinds of real property added together.
- grand_list_vacant_land · East Windsor official$10.36M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31$10,360,675. Vacant land. Shown here as other real estate.
- home_value_spread · East Windsor estimate0.4 as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Lognormal sigma for the spread of home values around the median. 0.2 is a tight market, 0.7 is wide. Only matters when a value cap is set.
- homestead_pct_adopted · East Windsor reported15% as of 2026-10-01East Windsor cuts homeowner assessments 15% — Enfield Things , 2026-08-30The percentage East Windsor adopted under CGS 12-81oo, effective for the October 1, 2026 grand list.
- median_home_value · East Windsor estimate$300,000 as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Median owner-occupied home market value, used to centre the value distribution. Replace with the assessor's median sale price.
- mill_rate_motor_vehicle · East Windsor official24.89 mills as of 2025-07-01Mill Rates for FY2014-2026 — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31FY2026. Below the statewide cap, so East Windsor's motor vehicle levy is not constrained by it.
- mill_rate_real_estate · East Windsor official24.89 mills as of 2025-07-01Mill Rates for FY2014-2026 — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31East Windsor's rate for this year. It fell from 34.28 to 24.56 when the town revalued and its grand list jumped, which is why an older figure of 34.5 was so far off.
- owner_occupied_share · East Windsor estimate85% as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Replaced by a count of the properties themselves. Kept for comparison: this was a working estimate of 85%.
- real_estate_share_commercial_industrial · East Windsor official25.33% as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Derived: (commercial 187.98 + industrial 108.09) / net real property 1168.68.
- real_estate_share_residential · East Windsor official66.9% as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Derived: residential 782.25 / net real property 1168.68. The Journal Inquirer's 49.1% figure for GL2021 was a share of the total grand list, not of real property; this entry is the share of real property, which is what the burden-shift math needs.
- single_family_home_count · East Windsor official3,726 as of 2026-03-11Testimony on SB 444 and SB 447 — Jason Bowsza, First Selectman, East Windsor , 2026-03-11
- apartment_units · Enfield estimate4,500 as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Apartment units, used to express the shift as dollars per unit per year — roughly what a renter would see. Not published; estimated from the apartment grand list.
- fire_district_1_base · Enfield reported$1,170M as of 2023-10-01About — Enfield Fire District No. 1 , 2024-04-18Enfield Fire District No. 1 taxable base from its FY24 budget.
- fire_district_1_owner_share · Enfield estimate70% as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Share of Enfield Fire District No. 1's base that is owner-occupied housing. Not published; estimated from the district's housing mix. Drives how much of the exemption each district absorbs.
- fire_district_1_rate · Enfield official3.49 mills as of 2025-07-01Mill Rates for FY2014-2026 — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Enfield Fire District No. 1, FY2026 (grand list 2024).
- fire_district_hazardville_base · Enfield estimate$820M as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Hazardville Fire District No. 3 base is NOT published. Placeholder pending the district's budget documents; collecting the four missing bases is a prerequisite for the fire-consolidation model.
- fire_district_hazardville_owner_share · Enfield estimate70% as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Share of Hazardville Fire District No. 3's base that is owner-occupied housing. Not published; estimated from the district's housing mix. Drives how much of the exemption each district absorbs.
- fire_district_hazardville_rate · Enfield official3.6 mills as of 2025-07-01Mill Rates for FY2014-2026 — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Hazardville Fire District No. 3, FY2026 (grand list 2024).
- fire_district_north_thompsonville_base · Enfield estimate$340M as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31North Thompsonville Fire District No. 4 base is NOT published. Placeholder pending the district's budget documents; collecting the four missing bases is a prerequisite for the fire-consolidation model.
- fire_district_north_thompsonville_owner_share · Enfield estimate60% as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Share of North Thompsonville Fire District No. 4's base that is owner-occupied housing. Not published; estimated from the district's housing mix. Drives how much of the exemption each district absorbs.
- fire_district_north_thompsonville_rate · Enfield official3.15 mills as of 2025-07-01Mill Rates for FY2014-2026 — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31North Thompsonville Fire District No. 4, FY2026 (grand list 2024).
- fire_district_shaker_pines_base · Enfield estimate$620M as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Shaker Pines Fire District No. 5 base is NOT published. Placeholder pending the district's budget documents; collecting the four missing bases is a prerequisite for the fire-consolidation model.
- fire_district_shaker_pines_owner_share · Enfield estimate65% as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Share of Shaker Pines Fire District No. 5's base that is owner-occupied housing. Not published; estimated from the district's housing mix. Drives how much of the exemption each district absorbs.
- fire_district_shaker_pines_rate · Enfield official4 mills as of 2025-07-01Mill Rates for FY2014-2026 — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Shaker Pines Fire District No. 5, FY2026 (grand list 2024).
- fire_district_thompsonville_base · Enfield estimate$520M as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Thompsonville Fire District No. 2 base is NOT published. Placeholder pending the district's budget documents; collecting the four missing bases is a prerequisite for the fire-consolidation model.
- fire_district_thompsonville_owner_share · Enfield estimate35% as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Share of Thompsonville Fire District No. 2's base that is owner-occupied housing. Not published; estimated from the district's housing mix. Drives how much of the exemption each district absorbs.
- fire_district_thompsonville_rate · Enfield official5.8 mills as of 2025-07-01Mill Rates for FY2014-2026 — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Thompsonville Fire District No. 2, FY2026 (grand list 2024).
- grand_list_apartments · Enfield official$109.48M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31The state's apartment total, $109,476,500. Apartments are not eligible for an owner-occupied homestead exemption, so this slice never shrinks under the model.
- grand_list_commercial · Enfield official$362.65M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31The state's commercial total, $362,653,441. Enfield Things reported $366M for GL2024; OPM's GL2024 figure is $365.9M.
- grand_list_industrial · Enfield official$229.7M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31The state's industrial total, $229,695,392.
- grand_list_land_use · Enfield official$6.59M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31$6,588,221. Farm, forest and open space, assessed under PA 490. Shown here as other real estate.
- grand_list_motor_vehicle · Enfield official$369.57M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Total net motor vehicle $369,571,960 (motor vehicle less motor vehicle exemption).
- grand_list_personal_property · Enfield official$314.4M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Net personal property $314,400,921.
- grand_list_public_utility · Enfield official$6.47M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31$6,472,800. Utility property. Shown here together with commercial and industrial.
- grand_list_real_estate · Enfield official$3,038.96M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Net real property $3,038,963,853 (total real property less real exemptions).
- grand_list_real_exemptions · Enfield official$17.07M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31$17,067,600. Total real property exemptions. Spread across the property types in proportion, so the parts add up to what the town actually taxes.
- grand_list_residential · Enfield official$2,307.7M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31The state's residential total, $2,307,700,296. Gross of exemptions; OPM reports exemptions only as a real-property total.
- grand_list_total_net · Enfield official$3,722.94M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31Total net grand list $3,722,936,734.
- grand_list_total_real_property · Enfield official$3,056.03M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31$3,056,031,453. Gross total real property before exemptions. The eight kinds of real property added together.
- grand_list_vacant_land · Enfield official$33.44M as of 2025-10-01Net Grand List by Town, 2011-present — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31$33,444,803. Vacant land. Shown here as other real estate.
- home_value_spread · Enfield estimate0.4 as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Lognormal sigma for the spread of home values around the median. 0.2 is a tight market, 0.7 is wide. Only matters when a value cap is set.
- median_home_value · Enfield estimate$300,000 as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Median owner-occupied home market value, used to centre the value distribution. Replace with the assessor's median sale price.
- mill_rate_motor_vehicle · Enfield official29.21 mills as of 2026-07-01Mill Rates for FY2014-2026 — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-3129.21 in OPM for FY2026, and the same figure reported by Patch for FY2027. Below the statewide cap, so Enfield's motor vehicle levy is not currently constrained by it.
- mill_rate_real_estate · Enfield reported33.11 mills as of 2026-07-01Enfield Town Council Approves 2026-27 Budget, Increases Taxes — Patch , 2026-05-14FY2027 adopted rate. OPM's mill rate dataset runs through FY2026 only, where Enfield's rate is 31.50; replace this entry with the official figure once OPM publishes FY2027.
- mill_rate_real_estate_fy26 · Enfield official31.5 mills as of 2025-07-01Mill Rates for FY2014-2026 — CT Office of Policy and Management (data.ct.gov) , 2026-08-31FY2026 (grand list 2024). The last officially published Enfield rate.
- owner_occupied_share · Enfield estimate85% as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Replaced by a count of the properties themselves. Kept for comparison: this was a working estimate of 85%.
- reval_commercial_change_assumed · Enfield estimate16% as of 2026-06-15Enfield home values up 42% — Enfield Things , 2026-06-24Figure the finance director cited from comparable towns; commercial analysis had not started.
- reval_residential_change_prelim · Enfield reported42% as of 2026-06-15Enfield home values up 42% — Enfield Things , 2026-06-24Preliminary, based on sales to date; final assessments mailed mid-November 2026.
- single_family_home_count · Enfield estimate12,500 as of 2025-10-01Working estimate by the site author — enfieldsim.org , 2026-08-31Owner-occupied single-family and condo units eligible under a flat-dollar program. Not published; estimated from the residential grand list and typical Enfield home values. Replace with the assessor's count of eligible parcels.
Changes to this model
- 2026-08-31 Published The homestead exemption model.
- 2026-08-31 Correction East Windsor's residential property totals $782M on the state's list, not the $432M first shown. Both towns' property figures now come from the state's official list for October 2025.
- 2026-08-31 Correction East Windsor's tax rate is 24.89 mills, the rate set after its 2024 revaluation, not the 34.5 first shown.
- 2026-08-31 Updated All five Enfield fire district rates now use the state's official figures for this year.
- 2026-08-31 Correction 88% of Enfield's houses and condos are lived in by their owner, counted from the state's property list, not the 85% first assumed.