The Derby tax board Thursday adopted a preliminary, $34.9 million budget that carries a tax rate increase of 1 mill.
If approved, the mill rate would increase from 26.4 to 27.4, said Judith A. Szewczyk, chairwoman of the city’s Board of Apportionment and Taxation.
A property assessed at $185,000 now pays about $4,884 in taxes.
If the budget is adopted as is, that same property owner would pay $5,069 next year.
That is an increased tax bill of $185.
To calculate your potential tax bill, multiply your property’s assessment by the mill rate, then divide by 1,000.
The School Budget
The total proposed education budget for 2010 – 2011 is $17,584,779.
That is about $1 million less than the $18.5 million requested by the Derby school district. Click here for information on what the school district wanted.
The education budget this year (2009 – 2010) stands at roughly $17.3 million.
“We didn’t cut them,” Szewczyk said. “We just didn’t give them what they asked for.”
The vote on the proposed budget was unanimous Thursday.
“Money is obviously tight. We have to take care of the citizens of our town first. People do not want a tax hike,” Szewczyk said.
More Details
The proposed 2010 – 2011 budget, when combined with town operations, totals $34,902,469.
The current budget, approved by officials this time last year, totals $33,722,082.
So the total, budget-to-budget increase between now and next year is $1.18 million — or 3.5 percent.
It includes a roughly $895,000 spending increase on the town side of the budget — and about $285,000 more for education.
Click here for information on the current budget, which was adopted last year.
The Board of Aldermen, at its April 22 meeting, granted 4 percent raises to all non-union City Hall employees. That matches the 4 percent raises given to its union employees.
Last year, the union and non-union employees did not get raises.
The tax board has tentatively scheduled a meeting with all Derby department heads for Tuesday. No public comment will be entertained at that meeting. It is a chance for the department heads, including school district leaders, to make a final pitch for money from the tax board.
The public will be able to voice their opinions at a public hearing scheduled for Wednesday, May 19.
The tax board is scheduled to adopt a final budget a week after the public hearing.
Only one member of the public, Dan Wileski, attended Thursday’s meeting. He commended the tax board for doing a good job.
