Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
PALO PINTO — At their regular meeting Aug. 22, county commissioners unanimously passed a $22 million spending plan with a 21.99% property tax rate reduction for the 2022-23 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.
The no new revenue rate is set at a 30-cent property tax and is expected to generate $14.4 million. Last year’s rate was 39 cents and garnered nearly $14 million, according to County Auditor Phyllis Banks.
“The no new revenue rate goes down when property values increase,” Banks said. “If we want to generate the same amount of revenue as we did last year, our tax rate has to go down because the property values increase. And, property values are just through the roof and we have a lot of new construction in the county.”
Despite the lower rate, the new budget will raise more property taxes than last year by $543,549, or 3.92%. From that amount, $459,507 is tax revenue drawn on new property added to the tax roll.
The general fund is set at $16.5 million to cover daily operations of county departments, and $3.3 million has been reserved for the commissioners expenditures in their respective four precincts.
From that, $2.1 million is budgeted for Precincts 2 and 3 in the northern and southwest parts of the county. Precinct 2 was assigned additional funds because it has more road miles than the other areas, and Precinct 3 is anticipating barn repairs.
Capital improvements have been allotted $1.5 million from the general fund for future building projects. Additionally, all county employees and elected officials will see a 5% increase in their paychecks with the coming fiscal year.
In other actions at Monday’s meeting:
• Fire calls have significantly spiked, according to County Emergency Management Coordinator Mistie Garland. She reported there were 73 calls in July, compared to last year’s average of about 17.
The county’s Keet-Byram Drought Index is also alarmingly high. The KDBI countywide average is 725 with the worst areas logging in at 777, Garland reported.
KDBI ranges from 0 to 800, with 0 representing no moisture depletion and 800 signaling absolutely dry conditions. Numbers between 700 and 800 point to severe drought conditions ripe for intense and deep burning blazes. Garland also said there were 158 EMS calls last month, marking an increase of 14.
• Sherriff Brett McGuire told the court his department served 42 civil papers, issued 15 citations, 38 written warrants, had 1,146 calls and arrested 52 people in July. There are approximately 82 inmates housed at the county jail.
• Public Works Director David McDonald sold 18 septic system permits last month, for a total of $6,480. That puts the total permits sold this year at 125, up from 20 last year. County officials said the increase signals a boost in home construction.
• Commissioners approved paying off a $2,700 balance on a $5,500 septic system repair bill for the Community Animal Rescue Effort. CARE’s Susan Wynne said the facility is overcrowded and the nonprofit is struggling financially. “Right now, we’re double the capacity we should be,” Wynne said.
• Commissioners OK’d the use of $35,000 from the current contingency fund for the juvenile department for the placement of some youth that “desperately need treatment,” County Judge Shane Long said.
“This year we’ve just run out of money, that’s all there is to it, for the juvenile department,” Long added, who is also the Juvenile Court judge and a Juvenile Board member.
Officials confirmed treatment costs run $270 per day, with typical stays around six months.
• The court approved the Juvenile Department Budget for the upcoming fiscal year, with a $40,000 increase from the current plan. The county’s juvenile court is allocated $218,396 in state aid and the county match equals $147,420.
