WILTON —  The Select Board voted at a special board meeting Thursday, Sept. 15, to keep Wilton’s tax rate the same for the third year in a row at 19.40 per $1,000 valuation with a $75,504 overlay.

The rate, recommended by Town Assessor Paul Binette and Town Manager Perry Ellsworth, clocks in at the seventh year in a row Wilton has not increased its tax rates.

During the meeting, Binette and Ellsworth acknowledged town bills are increasing due to rising costs.

“I think we’re going to be lucky to make the revenues that were forecasted, which is part of what you do with your budget. We know that our budgets are going to be over this year, almost probably in every department,” Ellsworth said. “There’s no way to catch that back up after you’ve set a budget that was set on [lower gas prices], for instance.”

However, those rising costs are “offset” by a $10 million increase to the town’s valuation, Binette said.

According to tax rate documents for the 2022-23 fiscal year, Wilton’s total valuation base is currently $295,263,352  – up from $285,511,432 in 2021.

The total taxable valuation of real estate and personal property in Wilton is currently $265,841,320

Binette said the significant increase in valuation is due to construction of new homes, home improvements and the substation replacement by Central Maine Power.

The overlay, which Binette described as “the amount of money that we’re collecting, above and beyond, to cover all of our bills,” should be set higher at $75,000. This figure is over a $30,000 increase from the 2021-22 and 2020-21 overlays.

“Because of these unknowns [around the cost of town bills], you may choose to have a higher overlay than you always had,” Binette said.

But Ellsworth said what doesn’t get used from the overlay will go back to the town’s undesignated fund balance.

While the tax rate is staying the same, Ellsworth said that residents’ property tax bills are still going to increase due to the rise in valuation on their properties.

But, Binette clarified, those who have not built new properties or improvements will have property tax bills that stay the same.

During discussion, Selectperson Tiffany Maiuri said she supported taking the “middle road,” neither increasing nor decreasing the budget.

“We have to live within our budget. And last year, we were fairly confident that by reducing it [the budget] slightly that we will be able to fit within our budget. But these are uncertain times,” she said.

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