By Elizabeth F. McNamara

The $62.6 million budget for fiscal year 2020 was completed weeks ago and the Town Council will finally put a gavel down on it at their meeting Monday. The main delay, according to Council President Mark Schwager, was the desire to have the change to a two-tiered tax rate signed into law. As of late Thursday, bills have been approved in both the House and the Senate and ready for the governor’s signature. 

‘We’d been hoping to wait and have it completed before the vote,” Schwager said Thursday. If the signature doesn’t come in time, he said, they will adopt the budget with two different potential tax rates” – the two-tiered rate (a $23.21 tax rate for homeowners, $23.44 for businesses) and a single tier rate ($23.25 for everyone). The current tax rate is $23 per $1,000 assessed property value.

There have been a couple of changes to the budget: a $40,000 addition to the Planning Dept.’s budget for a waterfront study and an additional $11,600 for the Board of Canvassers to cover the Presidential primary.

Also on the agenda is a vote to authorize a $2.7 municipal bond and votes to hold a special referendum in November on a $5 million school bond and a $4.5 million sewer bond. (The town bond does not need voter approval.) The town and school bonds are to pay for capital expenses such as long-delayed school repairs and new fire and police vehicles.

The executive session agenda includes a number of union-related issues, including contracts and litigation. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. in Council Chambers at Town Hall. Find the full Monday, June 10, agenda here.

Find out more about the 2020 budget here:

2020 Budget Hearing: ‘What a Difference a Year Makes’
Proposed $62.6 Million Budget Includes 1.42% Levy Increase, Fully Funds Schools
School Committee Approves $39.5 Million Budget; Next Stop, Town Council

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