Bedford homeowners will soon be getting their property tax bills in the mail, and can expect to pay an average of $152 more than last year. Town Manager Russ Marcoux said bills will be in the mail by Nov. 1 and due on Dec. 1.

The new rate of $19.33 per $1,000 of property value is 38 cents higher than last year’s rate of $18.95, a 2 percent increase.

For the owner of an average home in Bedford worth $400,000, the bill would come to $7,732. At last year’s rate, they would have paid $7,580, a $152 difference.

The tax rate is a combination of four separate parts. The town portion increase by 18 cents, or 4.7 percent from last year, to $3.99. Marcoux said 7 cents of that was due to loss of state revenue and a retirement increase that was passed on to local towns.

The local school portion was up 17 cents, or 1.4 percent from last year, to $11.95. State school tax increased by 3 cents, or 1.3 percent from last year, to $2.30.

There was no increase in the county portion of the tax rate, staying at $1.09.

“Our original municipal budget estimate when the budget was delivered last October was $ 3.97,” Marcoux said. “The actual is $3.99. The Town Council worked with us and were able to further reduce it to $3.88.”

Marcoux noted that the state’s portion of retirement costs are hurting local towns as they pass on the expense.

“The .07 portion attributable to loss of revenue sharing from the state and the pass through of 5 percent of the state’s portion of retirement costs are beginning to eat into local budgets and their ability to deliver services at the local level,” Marcoux said. “As retirement costs increase, the cost passed on to local governments will also increase, as the current plan decreases the state’s portion by 5 percent each year. This has to be readdressed by the New Hampshire Legislature. This is their responsibility.”