Colchester Town Blog

There was a low turnout at the town budget hearings. Despite the fact that the majority of those who spoke out had questions about the budget, either specific line items or the budget in general, town officials pressed forward with the budget as they designed. So, are they really listening? One local taxpayer put it to the Board of Finance “Good luck passing this budget”.

Most taxpayers are facing large increases in their tax bill, even if the Board of Finance weren’t also proposing a spending increase. To add insult to injury, the town assessor John Chaponis is proclaiming that people will see savings in their motor vehicle taxes thanks to decreases in their motor vehicle valuations and the adjusted mill rate. Does Mr. Chaponis really think the taxpayers of Colchester are naive to think that an increase of 30, 50, even 100% in their home valuation will be counterbalanced by a decrease in their motor vehicle valuations? And surely only people driving newer model vehicles will see any measurable savings in their motor vehicle savings. It is doubtful that a person owning a 10 year old vehicle, or older, will see much of a savings. It is very ironic that the very tax the state Democrats are saying wouldn’t save the average taxpayer much money if eliminated is the same tax that the local Democrats are saying the average taxpayer will see appreciable savings from lower valuations.

Elimination of car tax = not much savings to the taxpayer

Lowering of the valuation on which cars are taxed, ultimately lowering car tax = huge savings to the taxpayer

Which is it folks? It sure would help if the state and local Democrats were reading from the same manual.

Either way, taxpayers are facing a huge increase in their real estate taxes with Colchester’s proposed budget. Compounding an average 40%+ real estate valuation increase with a 29% mill rate downward adjustment, plus a 5% spending increase is just plain irresponsible.

Folks, we don’t have a tax problem- we have a spending problem.

April 23 and 24th are the set dates for the town’s annual budget hearings. The combined school and town budget proposal presents a $2.2million increase, resulting in a 1.49 mill rate increase. Colchester recently completed a town wide revaluation, so the increase is applied to a new lower mill rate, not the current mill rate. Of course, lowering the mill rate does not automatically mean that residents will see a tax increase equal to 1.49 mills. Homeowners whose property assessment was increased greater than the townwide average of 41% will see an increase in taxes even without an approved budget and mill rate increase.

Budget hearings are scheduled at 7pm at Town Hall.

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