Car Tax in Durham, Middlefield Higher Than in Middletown

By Field Editor Kaitlin McCallum

If you bought a new car in 2013 you probably just realized that you're paying high auto taxes now as a result. 

What you probably don't know, if you live here in Durham or Middlefield, is that one town over in Middlefield you could be paying much lower taxes on that car.

According to a report in Connecticut Magazine a 2013 Honda Civic in both Durham and Middlefield each have a tax bill of $388 (Durham's is slightly higher, by $0.48). But next door in Middletown that same exact car would be taxed at just $324.

That's because both Durham's and Middlefield's tax rates, which are 32.19 and 32.15 mills respectively, is higher than Middletown's, which is 26.90 mills. 

"In Connecticut, it’s the community you call home — and its fiscal status — that is the overriding variable determining if you’ll have to fork over $100 or $800 in taxes for the exact same vehicle," the magazine says. "And, in a sort of double-jeopardy, motor vehicle tax bills tend to be most gentle in Connecticut’s nicer and most affluent communities and toughest in the larger, more challenged places."

Gov. Dannel P. Malloy believes the car tax is regressive and unfair and sought to eliminate it this past year, a plan that drew howls of opposition from town and city leaders and never made it through the legislature. 

You can view Connecticut Magazine's interactive map of the local breakdown of car taxes.