Jericho sets municipal tax rates after reappraisal; education tax cited as main driver of bill increases

The Jericho Selectboard voted to set local tax rates for fiscal year following a staff presentation on the town's grand list reconciliation and the budget-to-rate calculation. Town staff told the board the new grand list rose from about $7,115,000 to $13,000,073.04 following reappraisal, a change staff characterized as "about an 84% increase." The board approved the general fund rate at 0.3024 and the companion component rates by voice vote.

Town staff walked the board through the worksheet demonstrating how the budgeted dollars to be raised are divided by the grand list and showed the effect of exempted properties and the local agreement line. The presenter emphasized that much of the apparent bill increase residents will see is coming from state-set education tax rates, not from the municipal rate the board sets. "The grand list increased from 7,115,000 to the $13,000,000.73 figure," the presenter explained, "and for me, it's always helpful to put those two rates in line. That's an 84% increase." Board members pressed staff about whether small corrections to listers' roll entries would materially change the tax rate; staff said such corrections at this point would cause only rounding differences.

Board members asked staff to coordinate explanatory materials with the school district and printer so taxpayers receive a short, clear explanation with their bills. The board also discussed accepting the recommended rates now versus delaying billing for a short re-run of numbers; members agreed to set the rates and to pursue plain-language communications to reduce confusion once bills are mailed. Provenance: topic introduced at the staff explanation ("We're here for the annual meeting to set the county rates..."), and the topic closed with the motion to set specific rates (motion and voice vote to set the general fund and component rates).