from the town administrator weekly report:

*protective services = full time ambulance employees.

Assessor: This week brings us back to a full work week and somewhat back to “normal”. Office traffic and phone calls have been steady with inquiries regarding the tax rate and property valuations on the recent 3rd & 4th quarter tax bill mailings. Residents are being reminded that the 3rd & 4th quarter bills not only show this increase, but they also make up for what was not assessed on the 1st & 2nd quarters. The reason for the tax increase was for the override funding protective services. Valuation increases are due to sales in town beyond asking prices during the calendar year 2017. This has been the trend for the last two years and you will most likely see this continue with increasing sale prices and the new school and police debt to be coming on the tax roll when the town goes out to borrow. Residents who have not filed for an exemption for FY19 still have time to file before March 31st and when approved, will be reflected on the 4th quarter tax bills. Applications must be filed yearly. Any residents applying for an abatement will need to get an application from the Assessor office and return it with proper documentation no later than February 4th. I have been sketching and adding information on property record cards for new construction with supplemental bills going out shortly for these. Field work done late last summer, and fall is also being recorded to property cards. Board of Assessors held their monthly meeting on Tuesday and follow-up work was done. FY2020 budget was discussed and the Board expressed concerns that will be addressed with the Town Administrator. I have been working with Vision to closeout values for FY2019. I attended the department head meeting Thursday morning and met with Carter to review FY2020 budget requests.

Your property increased in value and so your tax bill might also increase.