BETHEL – Residents and business owners in Bethel will learn either good or bad news next month when the tax rate is established. A recently completed revaluation revealed that Bethel’s tax base jumped from $221 million to more than $400 million, although the town’s total tax levy dropped by 2 percent to $3.9 million, Town Manager Scott Cole said Thursday.

“Our tax base has expanded significantly and values have increased in the past 20 years,” he said. “Things are worth more now, and also more things have been built in the past 20 years, primarily single-family homes.”

But owners of single-family homes, especially high-end homes, will see their taxes climb because the property share has increased.

“Mill properties will get a reduction and utilities will be slightly less, along with railroad and commercial, but there will be a slight-to-significant increase to residential properties. Taxes for modest homes are not going up, but houses that tend to be on the higher end will have a higher jump,” Cole said.

Using his house, which was built in 1999, as an example, he said it was assessed at $111,000 prior to a Homestead Exemption, but with the revaluation, it’s assessed at $199,000. This means he’ll see a 14 percent increase in his tax bill: from $1,746 to $2,000.

Selectmen will meet with assessors at 8 a.m. Wednesday in the town office to resolve loose ends discovered during the revaluation process. Then, at a meeting Wednesday, Sept. 19, the tax rate will be set.

“I expect that it’s going to be $10 per thousand of valuation. That’s down from where we are now at just shy of $18 per thousand,” Cole said.

The current tax rate is $17.86.

Assessors have been purging records and finding inconsistencies. There are still a number of taxpayers with questions like: what do we do about mobile home values, time-share issues, and how is common land in a subdivision being taxed? Cole said.

He also expects a lengthy discussion on personal property tax.

“I think it ought to be repealed. It’s a farce. It’s popular in mill towns, because money is tied up in machinery. If someone’s got an excavator and is moving it around, how do you find it? We have to rely on the honor system. Tax is tax. It’s not an option, and if we go after it, we have to go after it with everybody,” Cole said.

In other business, about 40 voters approved six money articles at last week’s special town meeting dealing with two separate water-related issues.

Voters OK’d taking $180,000 from surplus to stabilize a portion of the Androscoggin River bank where erosion had threatened to wash away graves from Riverside Cemetery off North Road.

They also accepted all federal funds offered and $45,000 from the Riverside Cemetery Association for the project, which is under way. The project was awarded to Savage Construction of Bethel, which had the lowest bid at $177,450, Cole said.

Voters also OK’d taking $83,500 from surplus to repair damage from the July 11 rainstorm to Angevine Park and North Road, and approved accepting all federal and state funds for the project. They also OK’d an $80,000 Community Development Block Grant that reimburses Bethel Water District for costs incurred to maintain a continuous supply of drinkable water after the July 11 storm wiped out the district’s water system.