Woolwich selectmen voted unanimously Monday to maintain the town’s property tax rate of $15.40 per $1,000 of value even this year.
This means a home assessed at $300,000 will keep its $4,620 tax bill from last year.
Selectman Allison Hepler said city leaders were pleased to keep the town’s tax rate the same despite seeing increases in the municipal, county and school budgets this year.
“It has been a tough year for all of us, so whatever we can do to keep the tax rate reasonable, we’re happy to do,” said Hepler. “We’re careful budgeters anyway, but there’s so much that you can’t control. The bad news is people will be getting their tax bills by the end of the week.”
According to Hepler, the town gained $8 million in taxable value, which helped boost Woolwich’s revenue and keep the tax rate low.
“One of the things COVID-19 has brought is people staying home, building new houses, moving to the area and buying houses for above asking price,” said Hepler.
Woolwich, alongside Bath, also generated additional subsidy for Regional School Unit 1, and the school board voted to return half of that additional subsidy to the towns, said Hepler. Woolwich’s cut that was returned was about $130,000, which aided the town in keeping the tax rate low.
In late May, Woolwich residents approved the town’s $2.2 million new spending plan, which was $252,179 higher than last year’s $1,955,015 budget, showing a 12.9% increase.
The largest driver of the new budget is a $100,000 addition to begin saving for the town to conduct a property re-evaluation. According to the town warrant, Woolwich hasn’t undergone a revaluation in 14 years, well over the recommended 7-10 years.
Municipalities assess properties to determine their tax rate and distribute the tax burden among property owners. But values change over time, so municipalities periodically have to conduct re-evaluations, adjusting currently assessed values to the market rate.
RSU 1’s $38.8 million budget, a 1.6% increase from last year, is driven by a $469,000 increase in regular instruction, up nearly 4% from previous spending. Part of that increase covers a new gifted and talented teacher and a new sixth grade science teacher at Bath Middle School, according to budget documents available on the school district’s website.
The $10.7 million Sagadahoc County budget increased by $342,818 or 3.3%, according to Pamela Hile, the county administrator. The county plans to spend $28,000 to replace cameras in police cruisers. The county is proposing to spend $18,000 for Emergency 911 software upgrades and raise an additional $40,000 to replace the emergency dispatch software system.
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