Tax-rate table .xls: TaxRateSet111715revB
Summary from the December Civic News:
1. A combination of factors helped reduce the 2015 tax rate:
a) Public Safety building and conservation bonds are paid off, reducing total appropriations as the cost of government services continued to rise.
b) Of the $823,141 surplus, $400K was applied to reduce taxes while the remaining $423,141 went into reserves. This is the first time in many years the maximum amount was not used to reduce taxes.
c) Without a re-assessment of property, we have a one year property value increase of $81 million (4.5%), where we only had a 1% increase the previous year. The increased tax base contributes to the drop in tax rate.
d) The decline in revenues and larger budgets were offset by the tax base growth and the lower debt payments.
Tax rate was set at $10.88, down from $11.55 in 2014. Major causes are retirement of the large bond for the Public Safety Building and the first tranche of the Conservation land bond voted in the mid-2000s, as well as an approximately $80 million increase in the tax base, nearly 5 percent of the Town’s approximately $1.7 billion valuation. Theoretically this should be primarily due to construction as this is not a revaluation year.
Breaking with the practice of the past ten years or so, not all of the available surplus from prior years was voted to reduce taxes. Over $400,000 that could have been applied to reduce taxes was set aside to even out the tax rate as the proposed budget for 2016 is up 4.68%, plus warrant articles, and there will not be the benefit of a bond retirement in 2016.
Numbers are still subject to final Department of Revenue Administration approval.
Video: https://vimeo.com/146072562
Video time stamps:
1. District tax rates: Rye Beach $.25, Jenness Beach $.24, Rye Water $.58 (all figures per $1000 assessed valuation) (2:00 elapsed).
2. County tax $1.11. Local School tax $4.35, State School tax $2.46. School did not apply any of their surplus to reduce taxation this year (8:22 elapsed).
3. Town tax rate would be $3.17 without application of prior year surpluses (unassigned fund balance), for a total of $11.10 (excluding districts). Unassigned fund balance is $2,002,437. If the minimum of 5% is retained to reduce taxation, $823,141 could be applied to reduce taxation, which would result in a tax rate of $10.66. Selectmen Jenness and Musselman appear to disagree, with Selectmen Jenness pushing for a higher tax rate (8:42 elapsed).
4. Selectman Mills arrives and indicates that he would support the higher rate. Selectman Musselman moves to apply $400,000 rather than the maximum $823,141 to reduce taxes. Selectman Mills seconds. All are in favor (20:19 elapsed).
5. Tax bills may go out as early as Friday, Town Clerk Beth Yeaton says (23:08 elapsed).
6. General discussion, followed by Town Finance Director Cyndi Gillespie reporting that underspending represents $514,194 of the available unassigned fund balance (27:50 elapsed).
