OXFORD — Property taxes are going up in Oxford.

In a 3-1 vote, the board agreed Thursday, Sept. 1, with Town Manager Derik Goodine’s recommendation to increase the tax rate 95 cents – from $12.25 to $13.20 per $1,000 of assessed property value.

That means a $95 increase on a home valued at $100,000.

Voting for the tax increase were Scott Hunter, Scott Owens and Floyd Thayer.

Roger Jackson was the dissenting vote. Pete Laverdiere was absent.

This is the first year in 12 years the board has raised taxes, according to Hunter.

Goodine told the board that despite crunching numbers for a few weeks, there was no way to avoid the increase.

“I’m convinced the mil rate needs to go up,” he told the board.

Goodine said the rate increase is due, in part, to an approximate $399,000 increase in the SAD 17 assessment over the last two years.

Other factors include a reduction in revenue sharing by as much as $100,000, along with additional Homestead Exemptions.

The sewer budget  doesn’t impact the mil rate because it is offset by TIF revenues.

Jackson said he would have preferred to see a smaller increase this year, and another next year, but Goodine said he did not believe the budget could support that move.

“I guess we’ll just see what happens next year,” Jackson said.

In other news, the board agreed to ask the low bidder of the sewer lateral connection project to cost out mobilization expenses and answer why they have calculated the bid on 6-inch pipe and not 4-inch pipe for the connections.

The questions surfaced after Goodine informed the board that four bids for the project were almost $500,000 apart.

The costs of the connections to property owners is not available yet, but Goodine has been working on a subsidy loan program to help owners with that cost.

In September 2014, voters, with some reservations, approved a sewer connection ordinance. The 47-page ordinance requires residents whose properties abut the sewer pipes to connect to the lines through a fee that includes a one-time base connection charge, plus a usage rate based on water consumption. The fee is determined by the estimated number of households that fall under the project’s scope.

Residents with functioning septic tanks will be allowed to keep them until they fail, and then be required to hook into the system. New, private septic tanks and other means of sewage disposal will not be allowed where public sewer is available, according to the ordinance.

In other action, the board also:

• Approved bids for several tax-acquired properties.

• Approved an off-premise catering permit for a wedding at Camp Kohut.

• Were told by Goodine that he would not recommend pursuing using the Welchville Dam to generate electricity. Goodine said he received the study report about the Welchville Dam that indicates the dam could only generate enough electricity to run the new wastewater treatment plant, but not enough to sell back to the grid. The dam will need reconstruction in the future.

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