BY MICHELLE KIM
Residents will see a lower overall property tax rate this year, due in large part to a drop in the school portion of the tax rate.
This year’s tax rate has been set at $14.56 per $1,000 of assessed value, which is 11.5 percent lower than last year’s rate of $16.46. This means the owner of a $200,000 home would be billed $2,912 in property taxes.
The town portion of the tax rate increased 40 cents, or 20.5 percent, from $1.95 to $2.35.
The addition of two full-time positions onto the payroll – town clerk and a full-time police officer – affected the town portion of the tax rate, according to Les Hammond, chairman of the Board of Selectmen. Hammond expressed surprise at the percentage of increase, though he said the selectmen had been expecting some kind of increase.
The jump in the town portion was offset by the drop in the school portions of the tax rate. The local school portion dropped significantly by 23.7 percent, from $10.08 to $7.69.
The state school portion of the tax also dropped slightly by 5.8 percent, from $2.40 to $2.26.
One of the main reasons for this drop, according to School Board member Betty Ann Noyes, is the smaller school budget for 2007-08, which is about $38,000 less than the previous year.
“The board last year, in conjunction with the School Administrative Unit administration, worked very hard to achieve a school budget for 2007-08 without any increase over the 2006-07 budget,” Noyes said. “We were operating with a flat budget this year.”
There were also fewer enrolled high school and middle school students than expected and fewer placements needed for special education services than were budgeted.
The School Board was able to return $868,000 to the town from lower than expected enrollments, according to Noyes.
In addition, Dunbarton saw an increase in money remitted from catastrophic aid, which comes from the state under a federal mandate for special education, and an increase in Medicaid funding, “which is all very helpful,” said Noyes.
Tax bills will be mailed by Oct. 31 and are due by Dec. 1. The tax collector’s office will be open on Dec. 1 from 8 a.m. to noon in addition to regular hours on Tuesdays 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Thursdays 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Payments postmarked by Dec. 1 are also accepted. For more information, call 774-3547, ext. 103.