NORWAY — Property owners will see their property tax bills decrease for the coming year, after the Select Board lowered the tax rate 10 cents Thursday night.
The new rate of $17.45 per $1,000 of assessed property value means the owner of a $150,000 home will pay $2,617.50, which is $15 less than the past two years.
Board Chairman Russ Newcomb admitted it wasn’t a huge savings but was heading in the right direction.
Town Manager Dennis Lajoie said despite the decrease, the municipal budget increased by about $70,000, or less than 1%.
Town Assessor Natalie Andrews provided the board with three options for the tax rate: $17.45, $17.50 or $17.55. If left at $17.55, the town would have collected more than $106,000 in overlay, money used to grant potential abatements. Since the town maintains a healthy surplus and typically spends roughly $35,000 of the overlay each year, according to Lajoie, Andrews recommended $17.45, which would create an overlay of $58,291.
The board unanimously approved the rate.
In other business, the board approved spending $24,321 for a 2022 Jeep Cherokee Latitude four-wheel drive sport utility vehicle from Bessey Motors of Paris. Code Enforcement Officer Scott Tabb will use the midsize SUV to check on new construction or renovations throughout town.
The board’s only concern was it could take up to eight months to get the vehicle. No 2021 models are available and a few other dealers could not yet order any 2022 models.
Tabb’s town vehicle has more than 140,000 miles on it and is near the end of its life, Lajoie said. If it dies before the new one arrives, the board approved paying Tabb mileage for using his vehicle.
The closing on the new highway garage is expected to occur Sept. 10. Due to the drop in interest rates from 3.5% to 2.25% on the $3 million project, the town will save $700,000 in interest.
The town is still working on getting estimates to run the fuel system to gas up town vehicles. The electricity to run the system is hooked to the old garage, which will be torn down, requiring a new electrical source or a new system. In the interim, C.N. Brown, which holds the contract to provide the town with fuel, will allow the town vehicles to get fuel at The Big Apple in Paris at the contracted rate.
Lajoie reported that a stonemason has stepped forward to repair the Norway-Paris town line monument, which was severely damaged last year in a vehicle crash. He quoted a price of $3,200, which the two towns would split if they both agree. Part of the cost would likely be paid from an insurance settlement.
The Select Board accepted a $120 donation from Chad Phillips to pay for electricity used at the Longley Square charging station. It also authorized Lajoie to spend no more than $10,000 to fix and pave the sidewalk on Paris Street beginning at Winter Street.
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