Seaport Advisory - Rhode Island property tax

What a Home Actually Costs to Own in CT & RI: 208 Towns Compared

Posted by Tim Bray on August 2nd, 2026

2026 Property Tax Report · Connecticut

The list price tells you what a home costs to buy. It says nothing about what it costs to own — and in 2026, that second number is where Connecticut buyers get surprised. The same home, one town line apart, can carry a tax bill that differs by well over a thousand dollars a month.

10.85 Lowest rate
(Washington) 68.95 Highest rate
(Hartford) 28.39 Statewide
median 169 Towns in
this report

The number most buyers never check

Everyone shopping for a home watches the price. Far fewer ask the question that actually sets the monthly payment: what’s the property tax? In Connecticut, the answer comes from the town’s mill rate — the dollars…

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Rhode Island’s “Taylor Swift Tax”: What Coastal Homeowners Need to Know

Posted by Tim Bray on July 8th, 2026

Rhode Island Property Tax · 2026

It’s nicknamed for a pop star’s Watch Hill mansion, but Rhode Island’s new second-home tax reaches far beyond the ultra-wealthy — all the way to century-old family cottages on the shoreline. If you own, or are buying, a coastal property in Rhode Island, here’s what you need to understand.

What is the “Taylor Swift Tax”?

Officially, it’s Rhode Island’s Non-Owner Occupied Property Tax (R.I. General Law § 44-72). It picked up the nickname because Taylor Swift owns a roughly $28-million oceanfront estate in Westerly’s Watch Hill — but the law itself has nothing to do with celebrities. It’s a new state-level surcharge, separate from and on top of the property tax you already pay your city or town.

The…

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