Scarborough is preparing to cut millions of dollars from its proposed town and school budgets for the new fiscal year to offset the impact of the town-wide revaluation.
The Finance Committee is set to take $1 million off the municipal side of the combined $87.4 million proposal and is looking to come up with another $200,000 in cuts. They have also asked the school department to reduce its budget by $1 million. The reductions are needed to reach the goal of a 5% budget increase or a 2.25% tax increase without the revaluation.
The combined municipal and school budget, proposed last month, rings in with a 6.4% increase over this year.
Meeting the budget goal this year is complicated by the state-mandated revaluation. On top of the 2.25% tax increase when the budget is trimmed, the average homeowner is expected to pay an additional 4.75% in taxes due to the revaluation, spurring a 7% increase instead.
Town Assessor Nick Cloutier provided an update on the revaluation to the council last week at a workshop, the fourth on the topic in the past six months. Cloutier stressed that all numbers provided are still estimates with official notices not being mailed to property owners until late May. Property values in town are estimated to grow by 50.5% on average, he said.
“If your property goes up more than the average town-wide, you’re likely to see a tax increase even if the budget is flat,” Cloutier said at the April 17 workshop. “Even if there was no increase year over year, you still might get a 3% or a 2% increase due to the shift in who’s paying what share of the overall tax burden.”
The tax increase could be greater for homeowners who were enrolled in the state’s program to freeze property taxes for seniors. Over 1,800 households were enrolled in the short-lived program before it ended this year. On average, Cloutier said, that program saved those taxpayers 3.8% in tax increases. Those homeowners could now see an 11% tax increase. The town has allocated over $900,000 from its fund balance to help offset that impact for taxpayers who relied on the state program.
Councilors at the April 17 workshop recognized that the revaluation is not something the council can control, but they can control the budget.
“You describe a process that is fairly formulaic; you follow this process and the results are what they are,” Councilor Don Hamill told Cloutier. “The real ability to control the impact on taxpayers is not really in your domain. It’s squarely in our domain, so I think it’s important we remember that.”
The revaluation makes getting the budget increase from 6.4% to the council’s goal of 5% or lower critical, councilors said. Councilor Jon Anderson, chair of the finance committee, said at the workshop he is confident the town and schools are up to the task.
“We can get there and we will get there,” he said.
The Finance Committee also will explore other ways to offset the impact of the revaluation, Anderson said.
Official revaluation notices will go out to taxpayers by the end of May and they will then have until August to schedule informal hearings with the assessor to debate their new assessment if they see fit. Cloutier pledged he would come to those meetings with an open mind.
“You’re all your own best advocates,” he said, turning to residents in the audience. “Talk to me. I’m reasonable, and I hope you will be, and we’ll work together if you have information I don’t.”
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