Fairfield’s 2025 Revaluation: What It Meant for Your Tax Bill

When Fairfield’s revaluation notices arrived in December 2025, most homeowners saw their assessment climb by more than half. That number was alarming. It was also only half the story, because the other half did not arrive until June, when the town set the mill rate that turns an assessment into a tax bill.

Now that the first bills under the new values have gone out, here is what actually happened, who it affected most, and what it means for owners, buyers, and sellers until the next revaluation.

Your Assessment Is Only Half the Equation

Connecticut towns revalue every property every five years. Fairfield’s 2025 revaluation estimated what each property was worth on October 1, 2025. Your assessment is 70% of that market value.

Your tax bill is your assessment multiplied by the mill rate, which is the tax owed per $1,000 of assessed value. The assessment reflects the market. The mill rate reflects the town budget, divided across everything on the grand list. Neither number means much on its own.

The Revaluation Did Not Raise Taxes. It Redistributed Them.

According to the Town of Fairfield, residential values rose approximately 63.9% since the 2020 revaluation, while commercial values rose approximately 16.6%. All real estate combined rose about 57.5%. The town’s grand list grew from roughly $13.9 billion to $22.1 billion (Patch, February 2026).

Because homes gained value far faster than commercial property, homeowners now carry a larger share of the total. The town projected the residential share of the grand list moving from 78% to 84%. That shift, more than the headline percentage, is what reshaped tax bills.

The Mill Rate Did the Rest

The Board of Finance set the fiscal year 2026–27 mill rate at 19.19 on June 2, 2026, down from 28.39 the year before. Bills at the new rate were mailed June 25, with the first of four quarterly installments due July 1, 2026. Meanwhile, the town’s $402.9 million budget carried a 4.28% gross tax levy increase (Patch, February 2026).

Here is the part most homeowners never saw explained. Because the mill rate fell by about a third, a home whose assessment rose by less than about 48% now pays less tax than it did before. A home whose assessment rose by more than that pays more.

A home that rose exactly in line with the residential average, 63.9%, pays roughly 10.8% more. As an illustration, an assessment of $1,000,000 at 28.39 mills produced a bill of about $28,390. The same home revalued to $1,638,800 at 19.19 mills pays about $31,449, an increase of roughly $3,059.

The average hides a wide range. When the proposed rate was published in February 2026, the projected bills of town officials alone ranged from 9% lower to 31% higher (Patch, February 2026). Where you landed depended entirely on how your property’s value moved against everyone else’s.

Residents Pushed Back

The response was, in the words of one state representative, more appeals than the town had seen in decades (Connecticut Public, April 2026). Nearly 900 homeowners appealed to the Board of Assessment Appeals, and of the 876 appeals heard, about 78% received a full or partial reduction, averaging roughly 17% (Patch, June 2026).

Some of the steepest increases were at the water. In testimony before the board in March 2026, one Fairfield Beach Road owner described a building value up approximately 134% and an overall tax increase of about 40% (Citizen Portal, March 2026). Appellants also argued that sales of renovated and rebuilt homes had pulled up the values of older, unrenovated houses nearby.

How the Neighborhoods Compared

To see how the revaluation landed across town, I compared the appraised value of nearly every residential property in Fairfield before the revaluation with its new 2025 value: 19,633 single-family homes, condominiums, and multi-family properties in all. The values come from the town’s appraisal records on Vision Government Solutions, and the 2025 figures reflect the spring 2026 appeal decisions, apart from any appeals that have continued to court.

The pattern is clear. The Beach and Downtown area rose the most, with a median increase of 71%, with 87% of properties there now carrying a higher tax bill. Stratfield and Brooklawn rose the least, at 60%. Everywhere else landed close to the townwide median of 62%: Southport and Sasco at 64%, and Greenfield Hill, the University area, and the Lake Hills, Lake Mohegan, Fairfield Woods and Black Rock Turnpike area all at about 62%.

The townwide row includes nearly every residential property in Fairfield. The median home value change is the increase for the middle property in each area. The share paying higher taxes is the share of properties whose value rose past the roughly 48% break-even point.

Property type mattered as well. Condominiums rose a median 66% and single-family homes 62%, while multi-family properties rose 55%, and one in three of them now pays less than before.

One caution in reading these numbers. A home that was renovated, expanded, or rebuilt since 2020 shows a larger increase, because the new value captures the work as well as the market. Using the median for each area keeps a handful of those homes from skewing the picture, but it is one more reason two similar houses on the same street can have very different bills.

What This Means Until the Next Revaluation

Your assessment is now set until the next revaluation, which Connecticut’s five-year cycle places in 2030. Between now and then, a sale does not change it, and neither does a rising market. Your bill will change mainly when the mill rate changes with each year’s budget.

The exception is your own property. When you pull a building permit for an addition, a major renovation, or new construction, the assessor reviews the finished work and adds its value to your assessment, measured at the town’s 2025 revaluation levels rather than at today’s prices. Under Connecticut law, work completed after October 1 is taxed from the date of its certificate of occupancy, prorated for the rest of that year.

If you believe your assessment is wrong, you are not limited to a revaluation year. Connecticut allows an appeal to the Board of Assessment Appeals each year, filed by February 20.

For buyers, a sale does not reset the assessment in Connecticut. The tax bill on a listing is the bill you will inherit, so it belongs in the budget from the first showing. For sellers, that same bill is part of how a buyer judges your price, which makes it worth understanding before you list.

How I Read a Tax Bill Before a Move

When I advise a buyer or a seller, I never look at the mill rate alone. I look at the assessment against what the home would sell for today, because that comparison shows whether a property is carrying more or less than its share. After a revaluation this contentious, with so many values reduced on appeal, two similar homes on the same street can carry very different bills.

I also compare effective tax rates across towns rather than mill rates. A lower mill rate does not mean a lower tax bill. It depends on what the homes are worth.

How Fairfield Compares

The comparison below comes from my relocation guide, based on 2026 single-family sales through July 31. Connecticut assesses property at 70% of market value, then applies each town’s mill rate to that assessed figure.

Fairfield carries a higher mill rate than Darien, Westport, or Greenwich, yet the second lowest bill on a median home, because its median price is well below all three. That is the whole lesson of the revaluation in one table. The rate matters, but the value it is applied to matters more.

A Higher Assessment Is Not a Higher Bill

The 2025 revaluation did not simply raise taxes in Fairfield. It reset every home’s share of the town budget. Some owners came out ahead. Many paid more. Almost everyone was surprised, because the notice in December told only half the story.

For the seller side of this, see what your home is actually worth. For the buyer side, my Fairfield County buyer’s guide walks through the full cost of a purchase.

If you are considering buying or selling in Fairfield County, I am here to help. With more than 15 years of experience and a deep understanding of the local market, I can provide the guidance and strategy you need to make your next move a confident one. Reach out anytime. I would love to connect.

— Shoshana Snyder, Homes by Shoshana

Figures are from the Town of Fairfield, the town’s appraisal records on Vision Government Solutions, Patch, Connecticut Public, and Citizen Portal reporting between January and June 2026, and from my relocation guide’s July 2026 comparison. The 48% break-even and 10.8% average are my own calculations from the town’s published figures. Tax rates change each year. Reach out for current numbers.