Tax rates will rise

By Wiley Wood

Spring is when the bean counters at Town Hall reveal the budget for the coming year—and its consequences for taxpayers. This year the news is mixed. Town spending will go down in 2019-20, and the overall taxes the town will collect will drop by almost 3 percent. But because the town’s revenues come in large part from property taxes, and property values have declined, the tax rate will go up.

The Board of Finance, at a meeting on April 16, voted to raise just over $7 million in taxes, down $200,000 from last year. Because of a 13 percent decline in the grand list, however, the mill rate will go from 23.57 to 26.86, up 14 percent. 

The draft budget was presented to the public at the annual budget hearing at Botelle School on April 22 and will be voted on by the town’s taxpayers at the annual town meeting on May 13.

For many taxpayers, who saw the appraisal on their homes drop as a result of the recent revaluation, the increase in the tax rate will be a wash and leave them paying about the same in municipal taxes as last year. But Michael Sconyers, chairman of the Board of Finance, warned that the effect of the revaluation would be distributed unevenly: “Some people’s taxes are going to go up, possibly a lot of people’s, and some people’s are going to go down.”

Residents who own land classified as Public Act 490 Forest Lands, which traditionally benefit from a lower assessment, will see their assessments increase from $130 per acre to $240 per acre, an 85 percent hike. This is the result of a statewide revaluation of land-use values, conducted in 2015 by the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, which is only now going into effect in Norfolk.

Reviewing some of the major components of the annual budget, Botelle School’s allocation was set by the Board of Finance at $2,480,000. According to First Selectman Matt Riiska, this represents an increase of $25,000 over last year, but $14,000 below the amount requested by the Board of Education. The school currently has 90 students, and the enrollment is expected to dip next year. Over one-fifth of Botelle’s budget, or $508,000, is earmarked for special education.

The town’s assessment from the Northwestern Regional School District #7 increased by $208,000, to $1,935,909, largely because the number of students from Norfolk will climb from 88 students this year to 96 next year. The Regional #7 budget rose a modest 1.5 percent.

The town’s budget for general government was $3.5 million, down $125,000 from last year. “We’ve done a lot of pencil sharpening to get where we are,” says Riiska.

The Department of Public Works, whose longtime supervisor, John Allyn, is retiring, will receive $1,458,000, for an increase of 1 percent, of which $400,000 will be spent on road repairs and $195,000 on winter maintenance.

The town is still paying off the debt it incurred for its defined benefit pension plan, which it froze in 2011. A portion of the $160,000 earmarked for those pensions will go toward paying down the principal.

The budget also includes $150,000 for capital improvements, to cover preliminary costs of the bridge repairs on Mountain Road and River Place; $97,000 in operating costs for the fire department; $32,000 for lifeguards at Tobey Pond; $20,000 toward operating a town van; and $600 for mowing and brush clearing at the town skating rink.

The state’s contribution to Norfolk in the coming year will total $390,000. “That’s everything,” said Riiska. “That includes state aid for roads and education.”