The Board of Finance passed along a budget Wednesday that carries an increase of 2.78 mills.
A public hearing on the budget is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday at Quaker Farms School.
A town-wide vote is scheduled for May 17.
If voters approve the budget, taxes are not guaranteed to increase across the board.
That is because the Oxford went through a revaulation in the fall. Finance Director James Hliva said 31 percent of the homeowners in Oxford saw their assessments decrease — meaning their homes lost value — between 10 to 15 percent.
A property assessed at $250,000 — about the town’s average — in the current year paid taxes of roughly $5,262.
If that property assessment dropped 15 percent — to $212,500 — the owner will pay $198 less in taxes next year, according to the Tax Assessor’s office.
If your property was assessed at $250,000 — and your home did not lose value in the revaluation — you will pay an additional $695 a year in taxes.
A whopping 82 percent of property owners in Oxford saw their assessment decrease during the fall revaluation, according to the town’s finance department.
To calculate your potential tax bill for next year, multiply the current assessment of your property by the proposed mill rate and divide by 1,000.
“Everyone has to see how their assessment has changed and how it will affect them,” Hliva said Wednesday after the nearly five-hour final budget discussion at Town Hall.
The bottom line for the town side of the budget is $13.7 million — a 3.7 percent increase. The bottom line for the Board of Education is $26.3 million — 3.7 percent.
“We think it’s a fair budget we’re putting out to the voters, and we’ll let the people decide,” said Lila Ferrillo, chairman of the Board of Finance, following the meeting.
The total Oxford spending package is $40.1 million — a 3.98 percent increase.
After Monday’s public hearing, the finance board will meet Tuesday at Town Hall at 6:30 p.m. to consider further tweaks.
The town budget and the school budget are separate questions on the referendum. They can fail or pass individually.
The finance board meeting occurred at almost the same town as a town meeting on road projects that drew about 80 people, who voted unanimously on a $1.21 million improvement project for Great Hill Road and a $445,000 extension of Commerce Drive in the industrial zone.
A summary of the budget distributed by the town is posted below:
