Lanesborough Sets 2015 Tax Rate
The Board of Selectmen opted to stay with a single tax rate on Monday night.
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The Board of Selectmen chose to keep a flat tax rate Monday night, which means all types of property will be taxed at $18.98 per $1,000 of assessed value. The rate is up 46 cents, a similar increase to last year's increase of 45 cents.
The rate hike mostly stems from the increase in the budget. The town has a total of $10,997,749.98 in expenses.
Other revenues will pay $3.3 million and the rest comes from taxes. The total amount to be raised is $7,644,979, which is about $400,000 more than last year.
Residential properties saw an increase value this year by 1.3 percent, which translates to a $4 million increase in total valuation. That increase in value has a small impact on the rate, keeping the rate from needing to be higher to pay the bills.
Under Proposition 2 1/2, the town could only cull $7,671,189 from taxes and the rate is $26,209 under the levy limit.
Monday's hearing was to determine if the town wanted to shift more of the tax burden to commercial properties. With little discussion, the Board of Selectmen opted to continue the single tax rate.
However, the vote was taken "by rule of necessity" because two of the three selectmen own businesses in town. The vote was done by necessity in an attempt to avoid any conflict of interest in the decision not to tax their businesses more.
In other business, Town Administrator Paul Sieloff reported that the new gas tanks at the Police Department are just about complete. The town is also still working with the Water Department on an agreement for joint billing. Sieloff also is working on putting together a scope of work for the proposed water line up Ore Bed Road.
The town also received the Green Communities designation with the state, which means the town is now eligible for a number of grant programs for environmental projects.
Also on Monday, Selectman Henry Sayers reported that the first Christmas tree lighting over the weekend kicked off the 250th anniversary celebration for the town.
"The crowd was smaller than we hoped. But, it was a good time," Sayers said.
Tags: fiscal 2015, property taxes, tax classification,
