NEW SHARON — The Board of Selectmen set the tax rate at $16.89 per thousand dollars of assessed property value.

It’s $1.09 more than the $15.80 in 2015.

Tax bills will be mailed this week.

The state has increased the homestead exemption this year to $15,000, up from $10,000. It means the first $15,000 of value of a residential property is exempt from taxation. A property valued at $100,000 would be taxed at $85,000, if the owner filed for the homestead exemption, according to the board.

In raising the homestead exemption, the state also changed the reimbursement. It will no longer reimburse the full amount of the exemption; instead, it will reimburse $12,500. Taxes on the remaining $2,500 must be made up by the town. At the new tax rate, that amounts to $42.22.

Spending for Regional School Unit 9, Franklin County and the town have all increased this year.

Advertisement

The RSU 9 assessment is $1.15 million, an increase of $103,291.76, or 9.8 percent, from 2015. RSU 9’s budget year is July 1 to June 30, while the town’s is Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. That means that half of the tax bill for this year reflects taxes approved by RSU 9 voters in 2015 for last year’s school budget. The amount coming from local taxation in 2015 was higher than the amount coming from local taxation in 2016.

Franklin County’s assessment to the town rose by $1,746, or 1.5 percent, to $116,289 this year. It was $114,543 in 2015.

At the annual town meeting in March, voters approved spending $3,208 more, or $843,123, compared to $839,915 for 2015.

The total town budget is $1.69 million, an increase of $83,304.76 from 2015.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.

filed under: