The Orono Town Council has approved a fiscal year 2020 town budget that will mean slightly lower property taxes than last year.

The total budget – including municipal, county and school assessments – will  be roughly $18.7 million. Of that, $11.2 million would on the municipal side, which is down about $28,000; or one quarter of 1 percent.; at the same time, municipal revenues – which once were projected as being down by $96.000 – ended up increasing by more than $300,000 over fiscal year 2019, thanks to higher than anticipated municipal revenue sharing from the state. As a result, the municipal assessment for FY20 will decrease by $332,000, or about 7 percent.

The county tax, meanwhile, is up by $45,000, or 7 percent; the school assessment is flat funded at last year’s level. All together, the net assessment to be raised by taxes will be $11.9 million – a decrease of, $286,000, or 2.3 percent, over the fiscal year 2019 budget. Assuming the estimated valuation for the town holds, that means a projected tax rate of $26.68, which is 32 cents lower – about 1.2 percent – than the previous fiscal year.

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