Council Sets Tax Rate for 2011-12

The tax rate has been set.

In a quick meeting Wednesday night, Town Council members set the tax rate for 2011-12 at 29.73 mills, a 1.99 percent increase when compared with the current year

One mill is equal to $1 of tax for each $1,000 of assessed property. To determine how the tax rate will apply to a property multiply the assessed value of the property by the tax rate and then divide it by 1,000.

The meeting was a change from the first two held immediately following a referendum, at which members had to decide how much to decrease the budget because voters had rejected the proposal. It took three referenda before the now $50.43 million municipal budget was approved on Tuesday, just in time for the Tax Collector to begin preparing the bills for distribution.

The approved budget represents a $1.12 million, or 2.25 percent, spending increase when compared to the current year.

Broken down, the new budget is as follows:

• General Government, $10,766,199 (a 1.36 percent increase)
• Board of Education, $34,662,357 (a 2.53 percent increase)
• Debt Service, $4,751,796 (a 2.79 percent increase)
• Capital, $247,310 (a 7.27 percent decrease)