Town meeting quick to okay budget

By Robert Pam

On May 12, a smaller than usual crowd of Norfolk residents showed up at Botelle School on a wet and windy night and swiftly approved the town budget for the fiscal year beginning on July 1. There were no questions, the vote was unanimous and the meeting took only five minutes. The highlight of the budget is a projected one percent reduction in the mil rate on Norfolk real estate. Since the town is now in the midst of correcting and reassessing every property assessment, this doesn’t mean everyone’s taxes will go down, but the rate will be slightly lower on the value that is set. In addition to paying for town services, this will pay for operating Botelle School and for the town’s share of the costs of operating Regional 7 middle and high schools. Costs have predictably risen. Botelle operations will be up 3.5 percent and Regional 7 just under 4 percent. However, other Regional 7 revenues are up, so costs payable by towns will rise only 2.9 percent, and the number of Norfolk students attending Regional 7 is down, so our share of the costs increases by just 1.1 percent. The regional budget was supported 69-12 by Norfolk voters this year. About 60 percent of our taxes will go toward education. Town operational costs will rise 12.2 percent, reflecting the one-time expense of reassessment and creating a new town plan, plus a substantial increase in road maintenance. Also boosting costs are rising fuel prices and inflationary factors. These projected town costs are offset by an increase in reimbursements, state payments and other income, and by the use of $200,000 that the Board of Finance decided is not needed in the reserve fund. The net result is that our tax-supported costs will rise 1.9 percent. When spread over the current assessed value of real estate, which rose about 3 percent this year, this requires a mil rate of 27.82 (2.782 percent of each property’s assessment). Voters at the meeting also approved spending $146,750, most of it to erect a steel building to protect town equipment. About $25,000 would replace and upgrade fire department equipment.