A tax rate soaring to 22.5 mils spells shocking news for Alna taxpayers who paid 16.75 mils last year, but selectmen blame school costs as the reason.
First Selectman Billie Willard laid out the figures for a total tax commitment of $1.48 million compared to $1.2 million last year. The school budget alone accounts for $861,596, which amounts to a $324,300 difference in the school commitment over last year, she pointed out.
“That’s a lot of money,” she said. “I hope the excise tax doesn’t change.”
At the same time the municipal appropriations total $534,656, which last year actually amounted to more than this year at $612,352. Willard said she has heard some citizens think the new firehouse addition accounts for the tax commitment hike but nothing could be further from the truth, since the $200,000 appropriated for the town’s share of the project spread out over 10 years for a bond issue.
This year the carryover amounted to only $50,000 for Alna’s share of the new Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit 12 budget based on the last budget approved at the RSU 12 town meeting, not the one approved Saturday, which went down slightly.
Last year’s school commitment was considerably lower when setting the tax commitment totaling only $537,300 because the school committee decided to use $250,000 of the school budget carryover to reduce the tax rate. Otherwise, the town would have had a total $787,300 total school commitment last year.
“Without that carryover the school committee used to lower the school cost, the mil rate in 2008 would have been up about four mils instead of the two mil increase over the previous year,” Willard said.
The difference then between the school totals used last year and this year to set the tax commitment amounts to $324,300 after the town applied the $50,000 carryover to reduce the $911,600 total school share Alna has to pay.
Willard said the town can hope the carryover for the next fiscal year will be more than the town had this year. It is her understanding the carryover from this year’s budget will be distributed to the town according to each town’s percentage of cost sharing.
The town’s mil rate in 2007 was 14.75 mils and rose a couple of mils for the 16.75 mils for 2008.
Of the total commitment this year, county tax accounts for $89,429, compared to $86,613 last year.
Willard and other board member were to meet with RSU 12 Supt. Greg Potter this week to discuss details of the $26.5 million budget voters of RSU 12 town approved Saturday at the third town meeting but voters will make a final decision on the total in an up or down vote this coming Tuesday by referendum ballot at separate polling places and times each town designates or by absentee ballot.
The new budget figure reflects only about a $100,000 over the budget approved at the town meeting in July which voter subsequently rejected at the polls and reflects a few changes since July from other non-local sources.
The local contribution for the new proposed budget amounts to $14.4 million, compared to the combined total local contribution of member towns in 2008 of $12.56 million.
