BRISTOL — Property owners in Bristol will see a slight increase on their tax bills this year.
The town selectboard at its Aug. 10 meeting set the fiscal year 2021 municipal tax rate at 72.72 cents per $100 of assessed property value, an increase of 2.15 cents, or 3%.
At the same time, it set the Bristol Police District tax rate at 29.80 cents, a decrease of 1.55 cents, or 4.9%.
As a result, residents within the one-square-mile police district will pay a combined municipal rate of $1.0252 — about a half-penny, or 0.6%, more than last year.
Bristol’s residential education tax rate for FY21 increased by 11.1 cents, or 6.9%, to $1.7206.
The nonresidential education tax rate increased by 10.29 cents, or 6.5%, to $1.6853.
In the police district, the overall residential property tax rate increased by 11.7 cents, or 4.5%, to $2.7458. The district’s overall nonresidential tax rate increased by 10.89 cents, or 4.2%, to $2.7105.
Outside the police district, Bristol’s overall residential property tax rate increased by 13.25 cents, or 5.7%, to $2.4478. The overall nonresidential tax rate increased by 12.44 cents, or 5.4%, to $2.4125.
The common level of appraisal (CLA) for Bristol, as reported by the Vermont Department of Taxes, decreased by 4.13 points to 96.6.
Bristol property owners will see the following tax increases per $100,000 of assessed value:
•  Police district residential: $117.
•  Police district nonresidential: $109.
•  Town residential: $133.
•  Town nonresidential: $124.
Residents who pay based on their incomes are very likely to receive prebates for a portion of their school tax bills, and some will also receive municipal tax credits.
In 2019, more than three-quarters of Bristol residents received education tax credits, according to the Vermont Department of Taxes.
Last year, 779 of the town’s 1,033 house sites received credits totaling $1,094,619, or an average of $1,405.
In addition, there were 199 Bristol recipients of municipal tax credits, which averaged $734.
Tax bills are expected to go out in the middle of September.