HANOVER – Residents will get a treat when they receive their property tax bills next week.

The tax rate declined 9.5 percent, from $15.80 to $14.30 per $1,000 valuation.

Residents late last month at the annual town meeting approved a 2004-2005 budget of $333,243, 2 percent lower than last year’s figure. The budget includes the school budget of $179,000 and county taxes, as well as municipal costs. Among the reduced amounts this year were those for town office renovations and solid waste and recyclables disposal, Town Clerk Clem Worcester said.

Taxes are due by June 30, although Worcester said many residents pay their taxes before the end of the year in order to get federal and state income tax deductions.

He said, too, that of the roughly 300 tax bills that are mailed, about two-thirds of them are to nonresidents, a figure that has increased over the years.