By Connie Footman,Special to the Sun Journal

LISBON – The average property taxpayer will get a $100 reduction in taxes this year.

Selectmen agreed this week to roll back the property tax rate for 2005-06 to the 2001 level of $24.25 per $1,000 valuation. The old rate, $25.25, had been the same for three years.

According to Town Manager Curtis Lunt, that means $100 less for an average house value of $96,000. The reduction includes an increase in the homestead exemption, he said.

He attributed the tax-rate decrease to selectmen working hard to keep the budget down.

In other business, selectmen:

• Presented David Lycette, outgoing chairman of the Planning Board, a community service award for his many years of work on that panel. Lycette, who left the board this year, had been a member since 1991 and was chairman since 1993.

• Approved Tax Collector Betty Sigurdsson’s request to sign a certificate of settlement and tax write-offs of $621.82 in real estate tax and $1,554 in personal tax.

• Accepted a $2,000 municipal vault inventory and data collection historical grant obtained by Town Clerk Twila Lycette.

• Granted requests to close Addison Street from Willard to Campus on Aug. 27 for the annual neighborhood block party; and Faith Street from Huston to Hope streets on Aug. 20 for the annual dance.

• Heard an update on the treatment plant headworks project.

• Agreed to amend the engineering contract up from $95,000 to $123,150 and voted to cap the cost at that amount.

• Agreed to present an updated building code proposal to town meeting for approval.

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