Bow News : taxes

SB-2 article on school warrant

Goffstown Editor — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:50:00 GMT

BY SARAH LEBRUN

When Bow residents attend School District Meeting on March 13, they can expect to see a petitioned article for official ballot law, or SB-2, on the school district warrant.

According to Superintendent of Schools Dean Cascadden, this article will on the ballot in May and will not be voted on at the School District Meeting. There will also be a public hearing on this article prior to the May vote.

“I've worked in SB-2 districts previously, and I’m not taking a stand on it one way or the other,” said Cascadden.

“There are pluses and minuses to either one.” On the warrant is also a proposed operating budget of $24,408,702, down $800,858 from this year’s budget of $25,209,560.

Both figures include the yearly food services budget.

The tax impact would be a reduction of 48 cents per $1,000 assessed property value, or $96 on a $200,000 home.

According to Cascadden, the decrease in the budget is due to six staff cuts – two at the middle school and four at the high school. There are also a couple of unfilled support staff positions that were cut from the budget.

Cascadden said administrators were directed to come up with a zero or less-than-zero increase in the school budget this year. “We realize it’s time to reduce and come in as frugal as we can,” said Cascadden.

Residents will also have to vote on a one-year teachers’ contract for the 2009-10 school year.

Requested is $356,310 for raises for 153 teachers, guidance counselors, nurses, library staff and speech teachers.

The tax impact would be 29 cents per $1,000 assessed property value, or $58 on a $200,000 home. If this article is rejected, Article 5 requests one special meeting to address the teachers’ contract.

Also on the school district warrant are various articles asking for withdrawals from the Bow School District Capital Reserve Fund. The Bow School District Meeting takes place Friday, March 13, at 7 p.m., at Bow High School.

Salem selectmen invite contract proposals to build water/sewer project

Bow Editor — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 01:56:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Bow town officials will open construction bids for a potential water and sewer project, but only for research purposes before they make a decision on whether to proceed.

During a Wednesday, Nov. 5, selectmen’s meeting, board members unanimously approved Jack Crisp’s motion to seek bids for the potential Route 3A development project after hearing community input from both sides of the argument.

“There were equally strong positions to go ahead and to forget about it,” said board Chairman Leon Kenison. “We had a wide range of views and, obviously, we will take those opinions into consideration as we move forward.”

In 2002, the town approved a $12 million bond for water and sewer to be installed on Route 3A, and selectmen will likely be forced to decide in the upcoming months whether to use $10 million that remains in the fund. Kenison said the bids will give selectmen an idea of which direction to go.

“One of the things that we lack now is how much it will cost,” said Kenison. “There’s a rapidly changing market out there for all sorts of construction. We were seeing prices going up, and that has changed. We’d like to know just what it would cost to build a system, and then determine if we should build what we wanted to build.”

One of the options the board could have is installing a partial system, which could mean putting the piping in for the sewer while the roads are being dug up for the water system.

The hope is that the system would draw developers to Bow, but there is no guarantee of interest in the area.

Stephen Heavener, executive director of Capitol Region Development Council who is working with the town on the project, previously said it is a difficult decision for officials to make.

“It’s impossible to predict the future. What we can say is that towns and cities across the country make the decision to invest without knowing,” Heavener said. “Many have been confronted with this very question. There’s zero guarantee. We can use models and illustrations, but can a political elected official guarantee that? No.”

By putting the project out to bid, Kenison said officials can get a cost estimate without having to commit.

“We don’t have to make an award, and all of the documents anyone sends out say we reserve the right to reject any or all of the bids for the project.” Kenison said.

In a perfect world, Kenison said officials would have the results of the bids in advance of Town Meeting in case there is opportunity to put a warrant article together, but, he said, it may not be the case.

“It may be too tight of a time frame,” said Kenison, who is looking forward to a resolution. “This has been in the works since 2002, so it’s certainly been discussed, and to nauseam to an extent.”

$300,000 surplus to be applied to Bow property tax rate

Bow Editor — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 01:17:00 GMT

BY JENN McDOWELL

After some discussion, Bow’s Board of Selectmen voted 3-1 to apply $300,000 worth of their unreserved fund balance toward the 2008 property tax rate.

According to Finance Administrator Bob Levan, the town saved about $400,423 from what was appropriated at Town Meeting.

“That comes from a combination of things, primarily, from warrant articles, where we were able to get work done for less than it cost,” said Town Manager Jim Pitts.

Levan delivered his financial report and suggestions for applying the fund balance to the tax rate at the Board of Selectmen’s meeting on Wednesday, Sept. 25.

“I think this is a great report, and one would hope it would set a standard in town for the School Board and other boards in terms of transparency for seeing where dollars are spent and savings are made,” said Selectman Thomas Keane. “As a citizen, I’ll be looking to the School Board to see if they have that kind of offset this year.”

Levan suggested applying $362,256 toward the tax rate for 2008, which will be set in the next several weeks. Levan used that amount of fund balance in his calculations to project Bow’s estimated 2008 tax rate at $22.60 per $1,000 assessed property value.

In applying only $300,000, for tax relief, that estimated rate will change before the rate is set.

“The $362,256 is an estimate. By the time we get around to actually setting the tax rate, some of the numbers will change,” said Pitts, depending on how the reduced fund balance application and the funding the town and school get from the federal government affects the numbers. “When they are made final, that will cause a change.”

The state and county also have yet to solidify their numbers for tax calculations, namely the rooms and meals tax, Pitts said, which will also change the tax rate.

Pitts suggested selectmen approve just $300,000 to allow a buffer in case the town and school do not get all the funding they anticipate.

“When we go to Town Meeting, any additional fund balance can be used to offset one or more of the warrant articles,” said Pitts.

Bow is the first town in the state to submit its paperwork to the Department of Revenue Administration, which will set the rate as early as possible, Levan said.

“The town’s financial condition as of June 30, 2008, is excellent,” said Levan.

The town’s long-term debt is well below the maximum recommended by credit rating agencies, he said, and there are significant amounts of money for equipment and infrastructure improvements in capital reserve funds, amounting to about $3.92 million.

“There is sufficient funding to take care of facilities, equipment and infrastructure without really spiking debt or property taxes,” said Selectmen Chairman Leon Kennison

Keane was the no-vote in the motion to approve applying the $300,000 toward the tax rate, saying he’d like to see most or all of the $400,423 in surplus at the end of the fiscal year go to offset the 2008 tax rate.

“I just think we have a lot of money in capital reserve. If we’re going to give them back what we saved them, this is the year to do it,” said Keane.

Bow selectman must decide fate of sewer/water plan

Bow Editor — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 20:20:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Bow town officials may be forced to make a decision within the next two months on whether to go forward with a $10 million water and sewer project on Route 3A without having any developers waiting in the wings. Selectmen will discuss the issue further at its Thursday, Sept. 25, meeting, which begins at 5:30 p.m. Part of the discussion will be if they should proceed and how to abide by voters’ wishes.

A warrant article was approved in 2002 that gave the town the $12 million bond, and close to $2 million of that has been spent installing a well and paying engineering costs.

Recently, Stephen Heavener, executive director of Capitol Region Development Council who is working with the town on the project, said if the board wants to get the best prices for the construction it needs to make a decision within the next 30 to 60 days.

Because of increasing costs, Heavener said the town would only be able to get a full water system and partial sewer system installed for the $10 million.

“That way, there can be a marketing plan and they can go out and start recruiting companies,” said Heavener. “Right now, we can’t do that to know what kind of companies to go after. If they (Bow selectmen) don’t pull the trigger, I know the status quo will continue.”

If the town decides not to go forward with the project, it will likely be more difficult to attract larger developers because they would have to install their own water and sewer systems, officals said.

“We need to decide. If we’re going to do this project we need to get at it. It’s a great time to buy construction,” said Kenison. “If there’s ever a good time to seek bids, it’ll be this winter. We need to do this to aid in the marketing of the properties or enjoy the status quo.”

Along with the decision to go forward with the project comes a risk.

“One of the problems right off the bat is, if we bond this issue, the tax rate would go up,” said Selectman Tom Keane. “If you add the fact that the tax rate will go up with revaluation this year and then add the bond, you have a problem. You have to figure out a way to make this work for everyone in town. We have to get the answers to some of these questions.”

Although there would be an initial hit on the taxpayers if the project is done, Kenison said in the long run if developers come to town, the value of the land would double and add extra value to the tax base to help lower residential tax payments.

Bow is appealing because of its access to both Interstates 89 and 93, but Heavener said there is no way of telling if developers will step forward with the promise of water and sewer systems.

One of the biggest concern Keane has is going against what Bow taxpayers have already voted upon.

Keane said on two occasions there have been votes on the issue. The first told selectmen not to build unless there was an identified developer lined up. A second on a petition article asked voters to approve telling selectmen to ignore the previous warrant article and go forward with the project, which was voted down.

“The town voted twice to not do this project unless there was a user,” said Keane. “I loathe to go against what the town vote was. I’m hard-pressed to override what the voters said they want.”

Selectmen will be discuss the issue further at its Thursday, Sept. 25, meeting, which begins at 5:30 p.m.

Keane doesn’t believe the board needs to rush to a decision.

“It’s one thing to take a leap of faith, but I think that’s irresponsible without having some questions answered before,” he said. “I don’t know how it’ll play out. Do I think we’ll run out of time and money and it’ll come to a crashing hault if we don’t do this in 30 days? No.”

Bow can now accept vehicle registrations

Bow Editor — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:11:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

Residents will soon be able to have more state services at a local level, as Bow becomes the latest town to connect with the Department of Motor Vehicles.

Starting Wednesday, Aug. 20, Bow residents will be able to register vehicles weighing up to 26,000 pounds, renew registrations and choose vanity plates at the town clerk’s office. These services previously required paperwork be sent to the DMV.

“The main benefit is that we can do more right here in the town hall than we could do before. I believe more people will be able to complete the registration without having to go to the state DMV,” said Town Manager Jim Pitts.

Previously, any vehicle weighing more than 8,000 pounds was required to complete its paperwork with the state. Now, Town Clerk Jill Hadaway said she will be able to help a larger number of residents.

“We’ll be able to deal with a lot more vehicles,” said Hadaway. “We’ll also be able to issue vanity plates, which we haven’t been able to do before. It’ll give us some new services that we’ll be able to offer.”

Because Bow staff will be training for the change of services, the town clerk’s office will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday, Aug. 12 and 13.

The main reason for the change is that the state is requiring all towns be linked through the Municipal Agent Automation Project. If towns aren’t ready by September, they won’t be able to do the municipal aspects of vehicle registrations. According to Hadaway, the process will be difficult at first.

“There will be a learning curve with it and it won’t be an easy adjustment,” said Hadaway. “We have a really good computer software package that the town uses for motor vehicles and I wanted to interface it with the state.”

Hadaway also said she has talked with other towns that are using the system already, and has learned both sides of it.

“There are a lot of rules and regulations on what the state required, so from talking to other towns it has advantages and disadvantages because it requires a lot of balancing,” she said. “We won’t know those until we have had the experience ourselves.”

Pitts said he looks forward to the town doing a variety of tasks by being online with the state.

“The state will no longer need to re-enter the information we put in, it’ll be going in as we type it,” said Pitts. “It’ll be one-stop shopping at the town hall.”

Bow budget hikes taxes

Bow Editor — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 18:50:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

In the aftermath of last year’s budget cuts when selectmen turned off 222 street lights in Bow, voters are now faced with a proposed budget that’s up about $602,000 from last year.

This year’s warrant articles go to voters at the Bow Town Meeting Wednesday, May 14, at 7 p.m., at Bow High School.

The warrants, discussed at a Wednesday, April 9, public hearing held by the Budget Committee, will include 30 articles.

Voters will see two recommended operating budgets, one from the Board of Selectmen and the other from the Budget Committee, with a difference of $15,000. Selectmen recommended, by a 3-2 vote, to support an $8,332,912 budget, while the Budget Committee’s recommended budget, by a 4-3 vote, is $8,317,912.

During last year’s Town Meeting, selectmen came prepared with a budget of nearly $8.2 million, but then newly elected Selectman Tom Keane proposed to cut the budget to $7.7 million, an amendment that passed voter approval 114-89.

At the April 9 public hearing, Budget Committee Chairman Dan de Vasto told the 40 residents in attendance about the situation the town faces.

“Everyone is cognizant of keeping things down and not cutting our throats in the process,” said de Vasto. “Some think we can spend more, some think we can spend less. We try to find a happy medium.”

A large portion of the crowd at the public hearing were members of the Fire Department, as five of the warrant articles to be voted on at Town Meeting involve fire and rescue.

The Fire Department is proposing the purchase of a pumper truck, which will have no tax impact as the money will be taken from a capital reserve fund, if the article is approved.

In addition, voters will be asked to put $160,000 in the fire truck capital reserve fund and purchase a new fire truck to replace one that has been in use since 1984.

The purchase of self-contained breathing apparatuses will depend on whether the article is approved because the latter asks voters to put $60,000 into a capital reserve fund used for rescue equipment.

In addition to the self-contained breathing equipment that would be purchased if approved, residents will be asked to allow the Police Department to purchase a $32,000 special utility vehicle, using the remainder of the rescue equipment fund.

“I think it’s very important for voters to support these articles. It’s for their protection. We’ve maintained the equipment for years now, and it’s simply time for new equipment,” said Bow Fire Chief Dana Abbott.

Other than the operating budget, the item with the biggest tax impact will be $365,000 for road paving, an item that will mean a 31 cent tax increase per $1,000 assessed property valuation.

If approved, the proposed operating budget would have a $3.99 increase on the town rate per $1,000 assessed property valuation. That means the owner of a $300,000 home would see an increase of about $1,197 over last year.

If the 10 warrant articles with tax impact are approved, that same owner would pay an additional $1,467 in taxes. De Vasto said after seeing the action at last year’s meeting, he hopes to see a larger crowd at the May 14 Town Meeting.

“I’m only hoping that based on last year’s activities, more voters will come and express their opinions on things,” he said. “There’s a philosophy of a large number of people who feel there should be no increase at all. Using that as a yard stick to measure, most of these things will be controversial to some people.”

Rate down, bills up

Bow Editor — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 18:06:00 GMT

BY MATT SCHOOLEY

The town of Bow has announced the tax rate for 2008, a number that may appear to lower taxes by almost one fourth, but higher property values will balance that out, resulting in higher tax bills.

A town-wide revaluation last year caused a drop from $27.99 per $1,000 property valuation in 2007 to $21.02 for the 2008 fiscal year tax rate – a 24.9 percent decrease.

Bow Town Manager Jim Pitts wants residents to be clear about why the rate dropped so dramatically. He said many people may think it has to do with budget cuts, but that’s not the case.

“That’s my concern, is that people will misunderstand. It’s because of the property revaluation that was done,” said Pitts. “If we hadn’t done the revaluation, the tax rate would have gone up. It’s misleading in that sense. We added millions of dollars of new property value in town, which caused the rate to go down.”

Had the revaluation not been completed, the tax rate would have increased by about 52 cents, he said.

The $21.02 rate consists of four different numbers. The town rate, which is $4.06, is down from last year’s $5.34. The local school rate also decreased from $16.79 to $12.59. Third, the state education rate of $2.31 is also lower than 2007, when it was $3.29. Finally, the Merrimack County rate also dropped from $2.57 to $2.06.

Though the rate dropped, Pitts said the reaction of those in the community won’t come until the tax bills are sent out in November.

“I will have to judge based on the tax bill they get. Some will get a bill that is less than it was last year, and others will see an increase,” said Pitts. “I thought the municipal portion was very dramatically cut at Town Meeting. Those cuts have had an impact on the services we provide, but the revaluation was certainly necessary.”

Pitts said the tax bills may result in different individual fluctuations, but everyone in Bow will fall in the correct category.

“The revaluation was well done so that the tax bills will be fair to everyone in town. Now there are no big discrepancies between the different classes (residential, commercial, etc.),” he said. “(The classes) have all been given a fair value. No one will be paying more than their fair share. That’s the whole reason to do revaluations.”

Tax rate up 6.1 percent

Bow Editor — Thu, 16 Nov 2006 20:15:00 GMT

BY RYAN O’CONNOR

The town of Bow’s fiscal year 2007 tax rate has been set and due to the floods in May, the town was unable to apply as much money from surplus as it had originally hoped.

The new tax rate is $27.99 per $1,000 assessed property value, or $8,397 on a $300,000 home, a $1.62 raise over last year’s rate of $26.37, or a 6.1 percent increase.

“Had we had the usual amount of surplus to apply toward the tax rate, the increase in the municipal portion of the tax rate would have been less,” Town Manager Jim Pitts said.

“Because the law and DRA (state Department of Revenue Administration) allow surplus to be used for catastrophic events, the surplus was significantly less.”

Still, Pitts said the $1.62 increase in taxes is still less than the $1.82 increase of last year. Pitts said due primarily to emergency relief and repair costs stemming from flood damage, the DRA gave Bow permission to use surplus funds to assist with the state of emergency in town.

Once the president of the United States declared Merrimack County a federal disaster area, FEMA became obligated to pay 75 percent of repair costs, but the remaining 25 percent had to be deducted from town surplus, at least initially.

The state of New Hampshire, according to Pitts, has historically paid an eighth of the total cost, which would leave Bow with the remaining 12.5 percent Although the state has yet to approve such a move, Pitts said he expects historical precedent to be followed.

This year, the town applied roughly $600,000 against the tax rate, about half as much as last year.

“Normally, we take the surplus that’s left over from the recently closed budget and that goes into the town’s general fund balance,” said Pitts.

“We normally take anything we have over the maximum general fund balance required by the DRA and apply that toward next year’s taxes to give that back to the taxpayer in that form.”

While the town had an increase of 77 cents, going from $4.57 to $5.34, the largest percentage of the tax jump can be attributed to an 89 cent increase in the local education tax rate, which is up from $15.90 last year to $16.79 this year.

Superintendent of Schools Kathleen Holt, however, said the increase can be deceptive because of insurance and fuel costs and the jump could have been worse had the district not returned $978,796 from last year’s budget.

“One of the major portions of that would have been salary savings from staff that we either did not replace for a period of time or when we did, we hired at a lower rate,” said Holt.

“Health insurance came in 3.7 less than we expected, about $300,000 less, and we saved another $375,000 in salaries. Plus, we had additional unanticipated revenue.”

Holt said unlike the town, the school district cannot carry funds over from one year to the next, and was forced to give money back to apply against the tax rate, rather than using it for the current fiscal year.

This year, however, is a little different from last.

“What we budgeted is exactly what we are paying, which unfortunately was a high increase in salaries with the new teachers’ contract and the second year of support staff contract,” said Holt.

There was also a substantial increase in health insurance costs, a minor increase in dental, and a sizable increase in diesel fuel cost, electricity, natural gas and heating oil, said Holt, who noted that with the recent decrease in gas prices, any unused money will again be returned to the taxpayer.

Additional funds were used for special education, a significant change in the mathematics curriculum and a new assessment testing program.

Outside of the town and school district realm, another 10 cents was added to the rate from the Merrimack County tax, which rose from $2.47 to $2.57. There was, however, a slight reduction of 14 cents from the statewide education property tax, which dropped from $3.43 last year to $3.29 in 2007.