Calculate your tax break from the homestead exemption

The Town Council will vote Monday on a homestead tax exemption. The only question is what percentage it will set. Under state law, the exemption can be between 5% and 35%. On a home assessed at $100,000, a 15% exemption reduces the assessment to $85,000. Your taxes are based on the lower assessment. It’s not clear what percentage the council will set. At 20%, the exemption should wipe out any tax increase from revaluation for many homes. It may be enough to allow the town to increase spending by 3% with little tax impact on qualifying homes. But don’t be surprised if the council sets a 35% exemption. That could mean a significant tax cut. It's also possible that the council could start at a lower exemption, say 15%, and increase it year by year.  Who qualifies Homes that are owner-occupied qualify. That includes single-family houses, condos and two-family houses where the owner lives in one unit. Rental houses, apartment buildings, and commercial property do not qualify. State law ...

Connecticut's warming climate and our mild winter

 
Late day glow, Enfield, Cora Street, Jan. 18, 2023

We could still get a lot of snow. The Blizzard of 1978 struck on Feb. 5 and dumped some two feet of snow. But there's no getting around the realization that our winters in Enfield are warmer, and so far, this Connecticut winter is pathetic. 

Connecticut's temperature will see a five-degree Fahrenheit increase in annual temperature by 2050, according to the Connecticut Institute for Resilience and Climate Adaptation (CIRCA), and fewer frost days, from 124 days to 85. The number of days of rain will increase, but most of that will be in the spring and winter. The summer climate will be dry. 

Climate Central ranks Connecticut eighth among states that are warming the most, reporting a 3.2°F increase since 1970. The overall temperature rise in the U.S. is 2.6°F. 

Connecticut and New England states, especially New Jersey, rank high because of the slowing of the Gulf Stream, which is increasing the warm water near us. The ocean waters influence our air temperature and climate. 

Our changing climate is grim, unsettling, and depressing, honestly. The decline of our winters in Enfield and Connecticut is evident to anyone of a certain age. It hurts to think about the loss of winter, but more about what we are doing to ourselves. 

I used my gas-powered snowblower just once this year for a three-inch storm. And then there is the oil furnace keeping the house warm. Eventually, a heat pump and solar panels will replace these systems. 
 
In Enfield, which is primarily single-family houses, the majority running on oil heat, this shift in energy source will be costly but necessary. The evidence is right outside our windows. 

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