ADDISON COUNTY — Many property owners in the northeast corner of Addison County will be seeing lower tax bills this year.
Property tax rates are down for resident homeowners in Lincoln, New Haven and Starksboro and for nonresident property owners in Lincoln, compared to last year. Nonresidents in New Haven and Starksboro will see slightly higher property taxes.
Selectboards in all three towns recently set tax rates for this year.
Elsewhere in the five towns that make up the Addison Northeast Supervisory Union, most Bristol homeowners will see a rise in property taxes of close to 5 percent (see story in Aug. 4 Addison Independent). The Monkton selectboard plans to set a municipal tax rate on Aug. 22. The FY 2017 Monkton homestead education tax rate was set at $1.8072, close to 10 cents lower than last year’s rate. The Monkton nonresident tax rate was set at $1.7495, close to 4 cents lower than last year’s.
LINCOLN
At its July 19 meeting, the Lincoln selectboard set the municipal tax rate at $0.6062, a nearly 6 percent decrease from last year. The state set the education tax rate for Lincoln at $1.5309 for residents and $1.4721 for nonresidents, both decreases of less than 1 percent from last year. Lincoln’s common level of appraisal (CLA) climbed from 103.32 percent in fiscal year 2016 to 104.27 percent in FY 2017.
The resulting overall property tax rates for Lincoln are $2.1371 for residents, a 1.9 percent decrease from last year, and $2.0783 for nonresidents, a decrease of 2.4 percent. Looking at a $200,000 home, this year’s overall property tax rate would mean a homeowner would see a $82.60 decline in the tax compared to last year.
NEW HAVEN
The New Haven selectboard approved a $0.3902 municipal tax rate on July 5. The education rate for New Haven for fiscal year 2017 is $1.5361 for residents, a 4 percent decrease from last year’s education rate. The nonresident education rate is $1.5295, an increase of less than 1 percent. The New Haven CLA, as reported by the Vermont Department of Taxes, remained at 100.36 percent.
Although the New Haven municipal rate represents a 4.1 percent increase from last year’s municipal rate, residents will still see lower taxes because the education tax makes up a bigger proportion of the overall rate. The overall property tax rate for New Haven residents is $1.9736, a 2.4 percent decrease from last year. The nonresident overall rate is up 1.25 percent from last year to $1.8960.
A New Haven resident with a $200,000 home would see a savings of $94.60, compared to last year’s tax bill.
STARKSBORO
The Starksboro selectboard approved a $0.5478 municipal tax rate at its Aug. 2 meeting, a 20 percent increase over last year’s municipal rate. The increase reflects payments for Starksboro’s new $1.65 million town garage, which became operational earlier this summer.
Education tax rates for Starksboro are substantially lower for FY 2017 for both residents and nonresidents. The state set the homestead education rate at $1.5983, which is 7 percent lower; the education tax rate for nonresidents is $1.5963, which is 2 percent lower.
The New England Municipal Resource Center just finished a townwide reappraisal in June 2016. The appraisal began in the summer of 2014.
“It levels the playing field,” said Starksboro Treasurer Celine Coon, of the reappraisal.
Nonetheless, Starksboro’s CLA for FY 2017 was set at 96.16 percent, as compared with last year’s 94.26 percent. Coon said that town officials and residents had hoped that it would come in closer to 100, given that the townwide appraisal has just been completed.
Starksboro residents will see a 1.3 percent decline in their overall tax rate this year, which comes to $2.1750 per $100 of property. Nonresidents will see a 2.8 increase in their overall property tax rates, which is set at $2.1441 per $100 of property.
A Starksboro resident with a $200,000 home would see a savings of $57.78 compared to last year’s tax bill.
Reporter Gaen Murphree is reached at [email protected].