The Department of Revenue Administration has set Epsom’s tax rate for 2009. Residents can expect to see an increase of 39 cents per $1,000, in a year where the town portion of the bill went up and the school portion went down.

Epsom’s current rate is $17.35 per $1,000 of taxable property. It breaks down into $2.60, town portion; $2.51, county; $10.09, local school; and $2.15, state school portion.

The new rate, set Oct. 15 by the Department of Revenue Administration, is $17.74 per $1,000. This breaks down into $4.03, town share; $2.41, county; $9.13, local school; and $2.17, state school portion.

The Epsom School District increased its revenues this past year, and even turned approximately $94,000 back to the town, financial adminstrator Nancy Wheeler said.

There are “a couple of reasons” the town portion went up, according to Wheeler. First, the town passed a budget in March 2009, after three years of being on a default budget. The total appropriations went up $207,000 when the operating budget was voted in, she said.

In addition, Wheeler said, the town did not use any surplus funds to mitigate taxes. In previous years Epsom would use its undesignated fund balance to offset taxes, but this year, she said, “there wasn’t that much to play with.” The Department of Revenue Administration requires that a certain amount be left in the fund, she said.

Epsom also saw a decrease in its anticipated revenues, which are down by $142,500, Wheeler said. These include car registrations, dog licenses, building permits, the land use change tax, the timber tax, and other licenses, permits and fees. A decrease in auto registrations was responsible for the biggest part of the drop, she said.

The town also saw reduced revenue from state highway block grants and the rooms and meals tax, and saw state “shared revenue” completely eliminated. Peter Aubrey, business manager for School Administrative Unit 53, credited the lower school portion to two factors.

First, he said, the town’s assessed value went up by $6 million in 2009. Second, he said, the school district actually returned $94,955 to the town to help offset taxes.

This was the result of good budgeting by Epsom Central School Principal Patrick Connor, he said.

“The principal is very frugal and runs a tight ship,” Aubrey said.