Politics & Government

Tax Increase in 2010-11 Now Set at 2 Percent

Board of Finance Ups Spending by $446,353; Decreases Projected Revenue by $937,981

Taxes in 2010-11 would rise by 2 percent based on actions of the Board of Finance late Thursday.

The Board of Finance - comprised of nine elected volunteer residents - adopted a town budget of $251.7 million, which is $446,353 higher than the amount set by the Board of Selectmen two days earlier. The finance board also decreased projected non-tax revenue by $937,981, meaning taxpayers, in total, need to fund an additional $1.4 million compared to the budget plan adopted by the selectmen Tuesday afternoon.

Chief Fiscal Officer Paul Hiller said the tax rate would be 19.28 mills in 2010-11 based on the 2010-11 operating budget approved by the Board of Finance. That means a homeowner would pay $19.28 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. The tax rate based on the Board of Selectmen's approved budget had been 19.18 mills, or $19.18 for every $1,000 of assessed property value. The current tax rate is 18.9 mills.

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A resident with a home assessed at $600,000 would pay an extra $228 in local taxes in the fiscal year that starts July 1 - from $11,340 to $11,568 - based on the budget plan approved by the Board of Finance.

The proposed $251.7 million operating budget now heads to the Representative Town Meeting for final action. The RTM can only decrease the proposed budget; it can't increase it.

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The RTM is an elected board of 50 volunteer residents - 5 from each of the town's 10 voting districts.

On Thursday night, the Board of Finance restored a $100,000 cut that the selectmen had made to the Board of Education's proposed budget, increasing it from $141,471,425 to $141,571,425.

First Selectman Ken Flatto on Tuesday had proposed the $100,000 cut for "psychological purposes," which didn't set well with the Board of Finance.

"Personally, for me, I couldn't find any support for the number in background or data," said Board of Finance member Kevin Kiley.

Kiley also voted to increase the town's contingency account by $328,500 in case state aid to the Board of Education does not come in at amounts projected by the Board of Selectmen.

"That money would be on the town side [of the budget]," said Board of Finance Chairman Thomas Flynn. "They would have to come to the town and ask for it."

The Board of Finance also thought the selectmen had underfunded insurance costs for town employees and increased money set aside for that purpose by $145,000.

The rest of the changes made by the Board of Finance were relatively minor and mostly involved cutting town departments' travel and meeting allowances, though the Conservation Department's proposed budget was cut by $21,100 (in amounts projected to be paid out for projects' performance bonds.)

Included in the decreases in non-tax revenue were interest on dividends, which the Board of Finance thought had been estimated by the selectmen at $400,000 more than it should have been, and revenue from conveyance taxes, which the finance board thought was estimated at $165,000 more than it should have been.

The RTM is scheduled to begin its review of the proposed $251.7 million town budget for 2010-11 at 8 p.m., April 26 in Osborn Hill School. The RTM would vote to adopt a town budget for 2010-11 at 8 p.m. May 3 in Osborn Hill School, and the Board of Finance would meet a night later to officially set the tax rate for the fiscal year that begins July 1. All of those meetings are open to the public.

As it now stands, the Board of Education's proposed $141.6 million budget is $2 million, or 1.4 percent, higher than its current $139.6 million budget, and the proposed townside operating budget, at $86.4 million, is $4.9 million, or 6 percent, higher than the current $81.5 million operating budget. Annual debt service, proposed in 2010-11 at $23.8 million - a 10.3 percent drop from current annual debt service of $26.6 million - makes up the rest of the proposed 2010-11 town budget.


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