Category Archives: Property Tax

Random Notes and Comments: 10-25 Selectboard meeting

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My collection of random comments, notes and thoughts after watching the video recording of the October 25 Norwich Selectboard meeting. Secrecy still shrouds appointment of TM In a prior post, I listed some of the superb questions a resident posed to the Selectboard about the ‘emergency’ appointment of a permanent town manager to a 3-year term. The Selectboard declined to respond to those questions, after asking that they be submitted in writing. Chair Marcia Calloway asked the Board if anyone Continue reading Random Notes and Comments: 10-25 Selectboard meeting→

Town projects budget surplus of $250,000. No plans to use cash for property tax relief or employee retention bonuses.

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The Town projects to have a budget surplus of $250,000 for the fiscal year that ended on June 30, 2022. At its June 22, 2022 meeting, the Selectboard passed on two suggestions for using that money. One was to pay bonuses to current employees. The other, returning money to taxpayers. The lack any real interest in either topic mystifies me. As detailed below, the Town is flush with cash. However, some Selectboard members noted concerns about future expenses. Apparently. Tracy Continue reading Town projects budget surplus of $250,000. No plans to use cash for property tax relief or employee retention bonuses.→

Total homestead property tax rate to rise by 3.25% in Norwich

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The Norwich Selectboard finalized the property tax rate on Tuesday. The total rate for homestead property will rise 3.25% compared to last year, from $2.3591 to $2.4358. For non residential property, the total rate goes from $2.2696 to $2.3589, about a 3.9% increase. Those numbers are from the Selectboard packet for the July 6, 2021 meeting. See chart below. At that meeting, Selectboard Chair Roger Arnold “thanked the Listers, Town Manager, and school personnel for their work on the tax Continue reading Total homestead property tax rate to rise by 3.25% in Norwich→

Good news: Public school enrollment in Norwich is up. As a result, the homestead tax rate increase is less.

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The homestead property tax rate is projected to increase by about one cent this year to $1.8185. The increase is less than one percent from last year. Previously, at the time of Town Meeting, the projected increase was about 10 cents. The budgeted amount has not changed, going up five percent, from last year. However, student enrollment is up. That means cost per pupil is down. Under the State school tax formula, cost per pupil matters — a lot. As Continue reading Good news: Public school enrollment in Norwich is up. As a result, the homestead tax rate increase is less.→

COVID-19: School property taxes to rise?

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Might school property taxes rise as a result of COVID-19? A recent VTDigger article discusses the pressure on Vermont’s K-12 funding system as a result of the reduction in business activity. The State Education Fund pays for most of school spending in Vermont. “About two-thirds of its funding comes from property taxes, and the rest from a mix of sales, meals and rooms, vehicle, and lottery revenues,” according to the VTDigger article by Lola Duffort. The State expects revenues from Continue reading COVID-19: School property taxes to rise?→

Tax rates to increase under School and Town budgets

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The Selectboard and School Board adopted budgets earlier this week to send to voters at Town Meeting on March 3. Under the Town budget, the municipal tax rate is likely to increase by about 7%. The adopted school budget is projected to increase the homestead school property tax rate by 5.77%. TOWN BUDGET. The budget adopted by the Selectboard set total expenditures of $4,441,173, an increase of 3.97%, from last year, not including separate monetary articles. To fund the budget, Continue reading Tax rates to increase under School and Town budgets→