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Belgrade board backs lowest proposed mill rate and outlines budget review plan
Summary
The select board on Feb. 3 reviewed three mill‑rate options and recommended the lowest (4.42 per $1,000) for the tax commitment, while confirming a combined select board/budget committee budget session set for Feb. 28 and a June re-evaluation.
Belgrade officials reviewed mill‑rate options and the town’s budget review process at the Feb. 3 Select Board meeting and voted to set the tax rate consistent with staff’s low‑option recommendation while scheduling additional review in June.
Staff presented three mill‑rate scenarios—4.42, 4.43 and 4.44 per $1,000 of assessed value—and explained the overlay mechanism used to cover abatements. Staff recommended the lowest option because the board will revisit rates in June during a full budget session. “This is basically just one half of that annual,” a staff member said when describing the choice as an interim step.
The board also clarified that the budget committee and select board will meet jointly with department heads on Saturday, Feb. 28, so all parties hear the same information and reduce repeated evening meetings. Bruce Gouch, who identified himself as budget committee chair, confirmed that members will receive email notices when special meetings are called.
When the board moved to set the mill rate the motion carried by voice vote; members expressed confidence in the low‑rate option while reserving final adjustments for the June session. Officials said staff will prepare the tax commitment paperwork and return with any updated calculations as needed.
