ARUNDEL – Town officials in Arundel hope to undertake a real estate property value update for the first time since 2005, according to Arundel Town Manager Keith Trefethen.
If voters approve the plan, the work of the reevaluation would likely begin in fall 2024, Trefethen wrote in an email. Values are established each year as of April 1, meaning that the tax rate finalized this summer will rely on April 1, 2024 numbers.
Town officials in Arundel hope to undertake a real estate property value update for the first time since 2005. Dan King / Post
If the plan secures voter sign-off, town officials hope that Arundel will be using the new property values when the tax rate is finalized in August 2025. The new property values should yield a reduction in the tax rate, Trefethen said.
In April, the Select Board and Budget Board voted to approve the warrant articles that will appear on the June 11, 2024 town meeting warrant. They include asking voters to approve spending $100,000 from the municipal fund balance in order to update property values.
Increase in real estate sales in Arundel has created an imbalance where some citizens are paying “more than their fare share,” according to an explanation appended to that warrant article. “The update corrects the imbalance and with it a direct reduction in the tax rate for all citizens.”
Trefethen estimates that the FY 2025 mill rate – the amount of property tax levied per $1,000 worth of property – will be around $17.15, a less than 1% increase overall from fiscal year 2024.
Voters are being asked to approve $5.8 million in spending for FY 2025, a 6% increase from FY 2024, Trefethen wrote in an email. The biggest drivers of that 6% increase are from staffing costs, he added.
Big ticket items that voters will be asked to sign off on include $1.05 million for the Town Hall administration account, which covers the operating costs of the town’s municipal building, as well as salaries and benefits for town employees in the Land Use Office and “General Town Government.” The Select Board and Budget Board are also asking voters to approve $1.3 million be raised and appropriated for Arundel Fire Rescue, and $1.051 million be raised and appropriated for the Public Works Department, as detailed in the warrant.
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