Norwich — Using some guesswork on anticipated state revenues, the City Council on Monday approved a city budget in time for tax bills to be mailed by the normal July 1 date, but city tax officials can't do the same for motor vehicle tax bills.

The City Council on Monday approved a resolution delaying the due date for city motor vehicle tax bills to Oct. 1, with a payment deadline of Nov. 1. Real estate and personal property tax bills will be due July 1 as usual, with a payment deadline of Aug. 1 to avoid interest charges.

Norwich was among the Connecticut cities and towns subject to a 37-mill cap on its motor vehicle tax rate in 2016-17 in Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's effort to ease the burden on vehicle owners in cities with high tax rates. The state provided a subsidy to the cities for the lost revenue. Norwich received a total of $951,488 from the state this year, City Comptroller Josh Pothier said.

But in 2017-18, the governor's plan had been to reduce the city cap on motor vehicle taxes to 32 mills, meaning the state would increase the subsidies to cities and towns with property taxes higher than 32 mills. The Norwich City Council on Monday approved a citywide tax rate of 40.52 mills for the 2017-18 fiscal year.

Pothier said the budget adopted by the City Council assumed a motor vehicle tax rate of 37 mills. But city officials have no way of knowing whether the state budget yet to be finalized will set a motor vehicle tax rate cap at 32 mills or 37 mills or whether the new state budget will eliminate the cap and the accompanying subsidy.

City Tax Collector Karlene Deal said delaying the motor vehicle tax bills until Oct. 1 will avoid the expense and logistical difficulty of mailing out supplemental motor vehicle tax bills to cover any changes in the motor vehicle tax rate the state might enact.

c.bessette@theday.com