Oxford Selectmen Propose Budget With Nearly 5 Percent Increase

MUNICIPAL BUDGET

2011-12 Adopted Budget: $13,380,716

2012-13 Selectmen-Proposed Budget: $14,032,709

Proposed Increase: $651,993, or 4.87 percent

Next: The Board of Finance will meet next week to discuss the budget and submit a final spending proposal to be reviewed and debated by townspeople a public hearing. The budgets – education, municipal and capital improvement plans – will then be sent to voters at a referendum.

OXFORD – The Board of Selectmen has proposed a budget for the 2012-13 fiscal year that shows a close to 5 percent increase.

During a sparsely attended and rather low-key meeting at Wednesday night, the board voted unanimously, 3-0, to send a $14.03 million proposal to the Board of Finance for a review. That board will review the numbers, possibly make changes and then forward it to the townspeople for a hearing and a subsequent referendum.

The selectmen-proposed budget shows an increase of $651,933, or 4.87 percent, over the current $13.38 million budget.

The proposed municipal spending plan, combined with the $26.97 million school budget proposed by the Board of Education (see details below), would increase overall town and school spending by $1.51 million to about $40 million.

Finance Director Jim Hliva said the proposed municipal budget, combined with the proposed school budget, would, in turn, increase the tax rate about 1 mill.

The current tax rate, a number which is expressed in mills, is 23.21 mills. So the spending plan as proposed would bring the tax rate to 24.21 mills. A mill is equal to $1 of tax for each $1,000 of assessment, according to the Connecticut Office of Policy and Management. Therefore, a property with an assessed value of $50,000 located in a municipality with a tax rate of 20 mills, would have a property tax bill of $1,000 a year, according to OPM. (To calculate property tax, multiply the assessment of the property – which is 70 percent of the appraised value – by the tax rate and divide by 1,000.)

Currently in Oxford, based on the tax rate of 23.21 mills, a house assessed at $250,000 pays $5,802 in taxes for the year.

If both the current proposed municipal and school budgets are approved - sending the tax rate to 24.21 mills - that property owner would pay $6,052, or $250 more, in property taxes for the year.

Editor’s Note: We will bring you more from Wednesday night’s meeting, including the proposed capital plan for big-ticket items.