Car Tax in Haddam Higher Than East Haddam, Killingworth

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 in Haddam, is that in our bordering communities of East Haddam and Killingworth you could be paying much lower taxes on that car.

According to a report in Connecticut Magazine a 2013 Honda Civic in Haddam has a tax bill of $349.97. But next door in East Haddam that same exact car would be taxed at just $299.15. In East Haddam it would be $259.79, nearly $90 less.

That's because Haddam's tax rate, which was 28.99 mills, is notably higher than Killingworth's, which is 24.78, and East Haddam's, which is 21.52.

"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.