Tardy Tax Bills Possible

The July tax bill could be delayed because of the delay in state review of the proposed 2009 municipal budget, which has forced the Town Council to postpone a final vote on the spending plan.

The delay in adopting the budget has pushed back the various steps used in sending out the July bills, which sets the tax payment schedule for the coming year. Town Administrator Jim Gildea said the tax bills cannot be calculated and mailed until several steps have been adopted, one of which is the passage of the municipal budget.

"The tax bills cannot go out until we have approved budgets from the town, county and schools," he said.

The county and school budgets have passed leaving the onus on the town. The Council cannot pass the budget until after the state Department of Community Affairs reviews the spending plan. The state is running two weeks behind in their review of the plan, which is required every three years. Town officials hope to pass the budget at the June 16 Council meeting, or at the July 7 meeting at the latest.

According to Gildea, once the town budget is passed there are a few steps before the tax department can send out the final tax bills. The county tax board will review the spending plan and calculate tax rates based on the county, school and municipal tax levies. Once the county has established the rates, the town can have the bills printed and mailed, which Gildea said is the quickest part of the process. Gildea is anticipating the bills going out in late July or early August. Bills will need to be paid within 25 days of bills going out.

The town is considering sending out estimated tax bills to residents, but this could cause problems since the July bill sets out the payment rates for the four quarters of the coming year. Estimated bills could play havoc with family budgets in town. Gildea did say that some residents will pay taxes based on estimated bills and he knows from past year that residents do pay attention to the mailing of the July bill.

"We get a lot of calls if the bills don't come in a timely fashion," he said.