Today, the Hartford Courant fact-checked Mayor Segarra’s claim at the arts debate last night that he hasn’t raised the mill rate in #Hartford. In fact, the mill rate increased 2.5 mills under Segarra.
Additionally, the assessment rate is going up every year, which means that the amount upon which property owners are taxed has grown. That in turns means that even when the mill rate hasn’t increased, people’s taxes are still going up.
The Courant writes:
Partway through a debate on arts and tourism Tuesday, Mayor Pedro Segarra, defending his record, said, “I’m mindful of the fact that we don’t want to increase the mill rate in this city, but considering the fact that we have not raised that mill rate in five years you can see that there’s been significant, significant investment …”
Segarra was trying to make the point that he has supported arts and marketing efforts in a tough economy with little funds. But he didn’t do it accurately.
The city’s tax rate has risen 2.5 mills while Segarra has been in office. A mill is $1 for every $1,000 of assessed property.
You can watch a video of Segarra’s remark during the debate here:
This isn’t the first time that Mayor Segarra has needed to be fact-checked. (Two examples: https://t.co/6mRPbP4jQe and https://bit.ly/1IHtjNK). How about being honest with Hartford?