Any Greenwich property tax figure dated before July 2026 was calculated from an assessment set in 2021 and a General Fund mill rate of 12.041. The bill now in effect uses the October 1, 2025 revaluation and a rate of 10.125, which the Board of Estimate and Taxation approved 11-0 on May 18, 2026. The rate fell almost 16%. Even so, the average Greenwich home pays more than before, and homes in a few districts pay a good deal more. If you are comparing parts of town, the old bill and the new rate won't tell you much on their own. You need the size of the property's revaluation increase compared with one specific threshold.
The rate fell because the grand list grew. The levy itself did not shrink. At a League of Women Voters forum reported by Greenwich Free Press, BET Chair David Weisbrod said property taxes fund $468 million of the town's $542 million FY27 budget. The mill rate is what you get when you divide that amount by the grand list. The BET's March 31, 2026 minutes put the estimated General Fund grand list at $46,229,003,535 after Board of Assessment Appeals adjustments. Divide $468 million by about $46.2 billion and you get roughly 10.12 mills, which is where the board ended up.
The revaluation changed the size of each owner's piece of that total. Weisbrod said the average residential assessment rose 28.5%, while the grand list as a whole rose about 25.3%. The grand list also includes motor vehicles and business personal property. Residential parcels already make up 82% of the grand list's value. Homes grew faster than the list overall, so the average house now carries a somewhat larger share of the levy than it did before October 2025.
Assessor Lauren Elliott described the goal as fairness, not revenue. "It's not a revenue generator," she said at the forum. "The goal is simply to distribute the tax burden fairly among all the residents in town." In practice, redistributing the burden is the whole effect. When one district's values pull ahead of the town average, part of the levy moves with them.
Two rates set the break-even point. Divide the old rate by the new one, 12.041 by 10.125, and you get about 1.189. A home whose assessment rose less than roughly 18.9% saw its General Fund tax go down. A home whose assessment rose more than that saw it go up. In a July tax-bill explainer, Weisbrod gave the same direction without the number. Properties that grew faster than the town-wide average likely saw higher taxes, and properties that grew more slowly may have seen a small increase, no change or a decrease.
The averages Weisbrod gave for three districts all come in well above that line. District 1 rose 37.7%, District 2 rose 30.6% and District 8 rose 30.7%. These are the town's RTM voting districts. The town's district boundary descriptions name District 1 "South Center." It runs from the Boston Post Road to the Metro-North line, between Brothers Brook and Prospect Street. District 2, "Harbor," lies south of the Post Road and runs to the town line in Long Island Sound. Its eastern edge is the Mianus River and Cos Cob Harbor, and on the west it is bounded by Brothers Brook, the Metro-North line and a line south from the Hamilton Avenue underpass. District 8, "Cos Cob," lies north of the Post Road and is bounded by Guinea Road, the Stamford line and Mianus River, and Stanwich Road.
The table below starts from a property assessed at $1,000,000 before the revaluation and paying $12,041 in General Fund tax. Connecticut assesses at 70% of market value, so that assessment corresponds to a home worth about $1.43 million on the 2021 list. Each row applies that area's average increase and the new 10.125 rate.
| Area | Average assessment change | New General Fund tax | Change from $12,041 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Break-even | about +18.9% | about $12,041 | none |
| Average residential, town-wide | +28.5% | about $13,011 | about +8.1% |
| District 2, Harbor | +30.6% | about $13,223 | about +9.8% |
| District 8, Cos Cob | +30.7% | about $13,233 | about +9.9% |
| District 1, South Center | +37.7% | about $13,942 | about +15.8% |
Weisbrod's own example used the grand list's overall average growth and arrived at a 5.4% increase, from $12,041 to $12,686. That example answers a misconception he addressed at the forum, that a 25% rise in value means a 25% rise in tax. For a typical house the figure lands on the low side, because the average home's assessment rose faster than the grand list it is measured against. Individual parcels vary around their district's average, and so does each owner's result. The district figures show where the burden moved overall. They don't tell you any particular property's bill.
Properties in sewer districts pay two more rates on top of the General Fund rate. The BET set the Sewer Maintenance rate at 0.268 mills and the Sewer Improvement rate at 0.091 mills at the same May 18 meeting.
The second installment is coming due. Under the Tax Collector's FAQ, Greenwich real estate tax is billed in two installments, July 1 and the following January 1. For this fiscal year that means July 1, 2026 and January 1, 2027. The January bill can be paid through February 1 without interest. After that, interest runs at 1.5% per month from the original due date.
When you compare homes, three steps keep the numbers on equal footing:
The appeal window for this grand list has also closed. The town's revaluation FAQ set February 20, 2026 as the deadline to file with the Board of Assessment Appeals, with hearings starting March 2. Elliott said about 950 appeals were filed out of roughly 20,000 residential parcels. Owners who are not satisfied with their hearing result can appeal to Superior Court. This post is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Before making a decision, confirm how these figures apply to a specific property with the Assessor's office or your own tax professional.
The 2025 revaluation sets values as of October 2025, and Elliott said the next one will come in October 2030. Between revaluations, her office updates property record cards from building permits, additions and subtractions. It also inspects 2,000 to 3,000 parcels a year in person. Until 2030, the district-by-district shares set last October will move mainly through those updates and through the mill rate the BET sets each year.
The market has kept moving since that snapshot. The Greenwich Association of Realtors' Q3 2026 report recorded 150 single-family closings in the third quarter of 2026, down 6.8% from Q3 2025. The median sale price was $3,368,790, up 10.5% year over year. In September 2026 alone, there were 38 single-family closings, up 22.58% from September 2025, at a median of $2,942,500. At the forum, Elliott said there is "still some froth in the market," with "a lot of paying 'over-ask.'"
That timing matters when you compare areas. If South Center, Harbor and Cos Cob keep outpacing the rest of town, the 2030 revaluation would likely shift the levy toward them again, much as the 2025 revaluation did. The same holds for any part of Greenwich that appreciates fastest over the next five years. Part of what a buyer weighs here is how much a neighborhood's prices are moving, because that movement shows up in the tax share at the next revaluation.
Did the lower mill rate cut taxes across Greenwich? No. It cut General Fund taxes only on properties whose assessments rose by less than about 18.9%. The average residential assessment rose 28.5%, which puts the typical home above that line.
Which areas saw the largest reported increases? Weisbrod named three RTM districts: District 1, South Center, at 37.7%; District 2, Harbor, at 30.6%; and District 8, Cos Cob, at 30.7%.
Does the tax money go anywhere new this year? Weisbrod's July explainer listed FY2026-27 capital projects. They include accessibility improvements at Julian Curtiss School, a replacement for the Dorothy Hamill Rink, and firefighting water equipment for backcountry homes that are beyond the reach of municipal water mains and fire hydrants.
If you are weighing homes in South Center, Cos Cob or anywhere else in Greenwich, Ted Sibilia can set each property's 2026 assessment and current bill beside its comparable sales. That way the tax you would carry is part of the decision from the first showing. Let's Connect.
Whether buying or selling, Ted brings data, design, storytelling, and strategic thinking to every stage of the journey. When you're ready for a more thoughtful approach to luxury real estate, get in touch with Ted today.
