By Curt Peterson
The Killington Select Board approved the FY2024 municipal tax rate Monday night, at $.5444, a very slight increase over the current year FY2023 rate of $.5436, according to Town Manager Chet Hagenbarth.
To calculate your property’s municipal tax, multiply $0.5444 times every $100 of property value on the grand list. For example if your house values at $400,000 divide by 100 then multiply by $0.5444 and you’ll pay $2,177.60 in municipal taxes for FY24 — up $3.20 over last year.
The municipal tax rate is set by the portion of the approved FY2024 budget to be raised by property taxes ($4,367,100) divided by the taxable Killington grand list, which equals 1% of the total of all property value in the town ($8,022,474).
Last year the grand list was valued at $7,980,431.49. The $42,000 increase in grand list value represents $4.2 million in real value created since last year (new building, renovations, etc.).
If the budget goes up year-over-year but the grand list remains steady, the tax rate will rise proportionately. If the grand list increase and the budget stays the same, then municipal taxes decrease. Creation of the municipal budget is one of the more transparent operations of a town’s governing body, yet relatively few property owners attend the public work sessions and meetings where the budget is discussed.
This is true in just about every town.
The Vermont state education tax comprises the majority of a property owner’s total tax bill, and the town’s CLA plays an important role in that calculation. As a rule, local education rates are not announced to the local authorities until the end of June and tax bill are sent out by July 15. The Mountain Times will report the education tax rate as soon as it is available.
At this point, Killington property owners only know the municipal tax rate — less than 20% of their total tax obligation.
