It’s that time of year! Tax bills arrived in the mail and new capital investments will be coming on the ballot for referendum.

The Town Council plays a critical role in shaping both of these efforts. Early in 2022 budget planning, the Council set a goal for the residential property tax rate (often referred to as the mil rate) to not exceed 3 percent. This has been a customary goal in Scarborough to balance the budget and allow for predictable tax increases for residents. In June, the Council met this goal by approving a budget with an estimated mil rate increase of 2.78 percent, or $15.27 per $1,000 of property value. After the final valuation assessment, the actual mil rate was calculated even lower, at $15.02, or a 1.08 percent increase from 2021 ($14.86).

A variety of factors led to this final property tax rate. The Schools received General Purpose Aid (GPA) in July, with 50 percent being allocated to lower the local contributions to education funding (providing property tax relief). The remaining 50 percent is allocated to a School Capital Reserve Fund. Additionally, actual property values as they were determined by the Town’s Assessor exceeded the estimated values used in the budget.

This was a tough year for many due to COVID, and the Town deliberately deferred many expenses in 2021 to fiscal year 2022. The increase in property values, additional state revenues, increase in excise taxes, and GPA support has allowed Scarborough to limit the impact to taxpayers while recovering deferred expenses. This excludes the nearly $2M in federal funds that have yet to be allocated (except to providing hazard pay to our public safety employees), which may be able to help stabilize the tax rate in future years.

In addition to maintaining this stability, Scarborough continues to invest in our future. Three items were approved in June to come to referendum in the Fall election for voter approval (all capital expenditures over $400K require voter approval per Town Charter). These improvement projects are a Hurd Park (Pine Point beach) facility and parking renovation ($631K), a 1996 fire truck replacement ($725K), and turf and track renovation ($1.9M).

The Town suggested deferring the Hurd Park Facility/Parking Renovation. This came after approving a Parks & Facility Master Plan, to be established by Community Services in 2022. The Hurd Park investment will be re-evaluated and considered as part of a broader renovation plan for our parks and recreation facilities. The Fire Truck Replacement and Turf and Track Replacement projects will still be on the Nov. 2 referendum. The fire engine has been in service for 26 years and is being replaced in accordance with the Fire Department’s replacement program. It was originally assigned to the busiest station before it was transferred to Pine Point halfway through its life. It’s now used as a reserve apparatus that fills in when another truck is out of service for maintenance.

The School put forward the Turf Field and Track Replacement again after it did not pass in the 2019 referendum. At that time, voters were asked to approve the $1.2M replacement, but 54 percent were not in support. The Town and School have continued to maintain the field, but a 2021 Field Condition Assessment Report again recommended it be replaced. The longer we defer this, the more costly it will become. I encourage everyone to learn more and support it at the polls this November, before it becomes unusable and alternative sites must be sought. Look for more communication from the Schools on this and please don’t forget to vote on Nov. 2.

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Scarborough Town Council.

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