By Curt Peterson
The Killington Select Board voted unanimously to set the 2020 municipal property tax rate for 2020 at $0.4717 per $100 of assessed value.
The 2019 rate was $0.4665. The increase of $0.0052 (about half of a penny) will increase taxes on a $200,000 assessed-value property by $10.40 for the year.
The tax rate is calculated by dividing the voter-approved FY2021 budget by the value of the current Grand List – the total of Killington’s property assessments, which Town Manager Chet Hagenbarth estimated at $4,788,644, the figure established in February.
Hagenbarth told the three board members there have been adjustments approximating $24,000 since February, but the board elected to use the older figure to set the rate.
Taxpayers worried about fiscal effects of the pandemic may find relief in Hagenbarth’s year-end estimates for the town’s finances. He said general revenue was up by about $10,000, tax revenue was down $8,000, and the special options tax revenue decrease was only $10,000.
But, he said, overall expenses are $100,000 less than budgeted, leaving a possible surplus of $80,000, “plus or minus.”
The property tax delinquency rate is higher than last year, Hagenbarth said, but he did not provide the number of properties involved, or the amount of delinquent taxes.
FY2019 delinquencies totaled $269,794.
The municipal property tax rate is about one-third of Killington property owners’ total tax bill – the other two-thirds is the education tax levied by the state. Governor Scott announced the FY2021 education tax rate will be increased by an average of 3 cents, last week.
The FY2020 rates in Killington are $1.62 for residents, $1.60 for non-residents.
The education tax rate is determined, in large part, by the cost of operating local schools – Windsor Central Unified Union School District.
Former WCUUSD Finance and Operations Director Mike Concessi said recently that reduced expenses during the spring would probably leave the district deficit-free when the FY2020 audit is completed.
