Taxes are likely to rise in all three fire districts for the coming fiscal year despite the City Council’s adoption by default last week of a budget recommended by Mayor Ed O’Brien that keeps the citywide tax rate at the current 35.26 mills.
While neither the First, or Center, Fire District or the West Shore Fire District will see nearly as steep a tax increase as the nearly 1.5-mill increased faced by residents of the formerly-independent City of West Haven Fire Department — Allingtown, which is now controlled by the city, more modest tax increases appear to be on the way. The fire district tax rate is added on top of the citywide tax rate to determine how much residents pay in total.
Center District taxpayers already approved a budget that will rise from $12.15 million to $14.06 million in fiscal 2017-18, with a corresponding 0.1-mill increase in the tax rate from the current 10.3 mills to 10.4 mills next year.