Pelham property owners who recently received their new tax bills saw small increases in the state education and county portions of their bill, but a 14.3 increase in the local school tax and a 20 percent jump in the town’s portion.

“We’ve been getting a lot of calls,” said Dottie Marsden, the town clerk and tax collector.

Pelham’s 2007 tax rate is $15.81 per $1,000 of assessed valuation. That’s up $1.82, or 13 percent, from the previous rate of $13.99.

Under the new tax rate, a family whose house is valued at $300,000 will pay an annual tax bill of $4,743.

The new rate breaks down as follows: $3.89 for the town, up 65 cents from $3.24; $8.85 for the school district up $1.11 from $7.74; $2.11 for state education taxes, up 3 cents, or 1.4 percent, from $2.08; and 96 cents for the county, up 3 cents, or 3.2 percent, from 93 cents.

Bruce Couture, chairman of the School Board, said that about 60 cents of the local school rate was due to three factors: $283,514 for the first year of the recently approved three-year teacher contract, and a pair of one-time expenses: $395,000 for life safety improvements at Pelham High School and $350,000 for architectural and engineering fees for a school facility.

Although $145,000 devoted to the safety improvements wasn’t spent – the money won’t be seen until the end of the fiscal year in June, Couture said.

The town’s operating budget of roughly $9.9 million that voters approved last March was approximately 5 percent higher than the previous one.

In addition, three of the most expensive spending requests voters approved were $138,901 for four new firefighters, $100,000 added to a fund for a senior center addition and a five-year lease for a Fire Department pumper truck, with a first-year cost of $81,900.

There are 5,166 taxable properties in town. Tax bills went out Nov. 14 and are due on Dec. 14.