Oxford Budget Ready for Referendum

Town officials decided Monday during a town meeting to eliminate $284,772 from the capital and non-recurring budget that was supposed to go toward an ambulance, a snow plow and a pickup truck for the Department of Public Works.

But that doesn't mean the town won't purchase those vehicles. Oxford is expecting to receive a check of about $450,000 in a couple weeks that comes following a legal battle over an oil spill that occurred years ago at Quaker Farms Elementary School, Finance Director Jim Hliva said. That money, he said, will go toward purchasing the above mentioned vehicles.

"The Board of Finance wanted to do it this way, take it out of the budget, so as to not tax the residents for those purchases," he said.

That decision brought the proposed tax rate (mill rate) increase down .2 mills, to 24.75 mills. (See numbers below.) That was the only change made at Monday's town meeting, Hliva said. Townspeople adjourned the meeting to a referendum, which will be held from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, May 14, at Quaker Farms School, 30 Great Oak Road. Anybody who owns property in Oxford can vote.

The following is a breakdown of what residents will vote on. Below that is a look at what the tax increases based upon those numbers would look like if the budgets were adopted. 

Oxford Board of Education

2012-13 Adopted Budget: $26,548,247

2013-14 Proposed Budget: $27,148,793

Proposed Increase: $600,546, or 2.26 percent

Oxford Municipal Budget

2012-13 Adopted Budget: $13,407,217

2013-14 Proposed Budget: $14,604,310

Proposed Increase: $1,197,093, or 8.93 percent

Capital and Non-Recurring 

(Money will go toward road repairs. Click here for more details.)

2012-13 Adopted Budget: $734,000

2013-14 Proposed Budget: $634,000 (note that an additional $100,000 for road repairs is included in the general municipal budget)

Proposed Decrease: $100,000, or 13.62 percent 

Tax Rate (Mill Rate) 

2012-13 Adopted Mill Rate: 24.1 mills

2013-14 Proposed Mill Rate: 24.75 mills

Proposed increase: .65 mills, 2.7 percent

So...

A resident with a house assessed at $200,000 currently pays $4,820 a year in property taxes and would pay $4,950 - or $130 more - if the current budget proposal is adopted.

A resident with a house assessed at $250,000 currently pays $6,025 a year and would pay $6,187.50 - or $162.50 more - if the current budget proposal is adopted.

A resident with a house assessed at $300,000 currently pays $7,230 a year and would pay $7,425 - or $195 more - if the current budget proposal is adopted. 

What do you think about the budget proposals? Will you vote to approve them? Tell us in comments.