NEW CANAAN, Conn. New Canaan residents will pay slightly higher property taxes next fiscal year under the new mill rate.
The Board of Finance voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a tax rate of 14.076 mills for property taxes. The new figure is about 1.61 percent higher than the current rate. The new tax rate will mean a home valued at $1 million will have a tax bill of $9,849, up $162 from this year.
Last month, the Town Council approved a $125.5 million spending plan for New Canaan for the 2012-13 fiscal year. Of that, $74.5 million goes to the New Canaan Board of Education for school operations.
Though the board originally was looking at increasing taxes nearly 2 percent, it cut the hike after opting to spend $2.7 million in contingency funds. First Selectman Robert Mallozzi III, who said he wanted to keep the tax rate increase below 2.5 percent, said the increase is the lowest he can recall, even with having to fund an employee pension plan for the first time.
It is collectively our money, and I believe we are continuing on the path of the most responsible allocation of that most precious resource, Mallozzi said in thanking town officials for their work on the budget.
The finance board also approved a special appropriation of $750,000 to the New Canaan Board of Education to cover possible cost overruns in the next fiscal year. It comes after the finance board voted to place $3.6 million from a school board educational cost grant fund into the general fund. Most of that money is reimbursements from the state for special education costs. The account had grown over the years and school officials admitted the fund had become too large. The appropriation must still be approved by the Town Council.
In addition, the finance board transferred about $600,000 from the high school building committee to the newly created Town Hall Building Committee, which is planning to relocate Town Hall employees starting this summer in anticipation of renovations at the building.
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