Old Lyme voters approve $38.2 million budget with slight tax rate increase
Old Lyme — Roughly 20 voters at Monday evening's annual budget meeting unanimously passed the town's $38.2 million budget and authorized semi-annual personal property tax payments.
The scant attendance meant there was no threat to the 25-person maximum capacity limit announced in a handwritten sign on the meeting hall door due to COVID-19 restrictions. The meeting did not include a remote access option.
The spending plan, which includes general government, capital expenses and education, is down $590,224, or 1.52%, from the current year.
The Board of Finance, in a meeting held immediately after the budget vote, unanimously agreed to raise the tax rate by 0.1 mill, or 0.04%, to bring it to 23.30 mills.
Board of Finance Chairman David Kelsey said that while spending is going down in the newly approved budget, so is the amount of revenue the town expects to generate. He cited a projected $200,000 decrease in revenues and pointed to $100,000 the town won't be receiving due to various tax breaks. Those eligible for such breaks include volunteer firefighters, elderly individuals and two senior housing developments.
A homeowner with a house assessed at $243,000 will pay $5,662 based on the tax increase, or $24 more than in the current year.
The town operations section of the budget comes in at $10.75 million, an increase of $933,853, or 9.51%. The hike is mitigated by decreased capital spending, which will go from $1.43 million in the current budget to $460,150 in the upcoming fiscal year.
Further alleviating the impact of the town operations increase is the town's responsibility to the Lyme-Old Lyme regional school district, which is slated to decrease $550,327, or 2%. The approved Region 18 budget, which is funded by Lyme and Old Lyme, comes in at $34.87 million, an increase of 0.47%.
The town operations increase was driven by salary considerations, according to Kelsey. New spending includes $20,000 for a contracted human resources position, $25,000 for additional hours in the finance department and $10,537 for additional hours for the registrars of voters.
Voters also were unanimous in their support for separating personal property taxes — which include cars and boats — into semi-annual installments paid in July and January. Only real estate taxes had been divided into the two payments previously.
Any tax bill under $100 will be due in one payment each July, according to the newly approved language.
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