The amounts to be raised by taxes for Andover for 2018 add up to $6,033,458. This is an increase over last year of $41,218, 0.7%. [See attached chart #1] The tax rate will go up by 0.3%. The tax bill for a property valued at $200,000 will increase from $4,680 in 2017 to $4,694 in 2018, an increase of $14.
The total tax burden for Andover had been increasing over recent years, but has remained essentially flat at the $6,000,000 level for the last two years. .[See attached chart #2]
Andover School Taxes
The 2018 annual School District Meeting voted an operating budget of $5,476,537, down from the previous year by $58,678 (down 1.1%).
Offsetting this appropriation was an unexpended fund balance of $38,536 at the end of the 2017-2018 school year that was applied to offset taxes. This was significantly smaller than in previous years as a result of the decision of the School Board to transfer $200,000 of the fund balance to the HS Tuition Trust Fund. The State Education Grant this year is $1,002,211. After accounting for other revenues, the amount to be raised by taxes for 2018 is $3,902,541, up 2.6% over the previous year.
The School tax rate for 2018 is $15.21 ($2.06 for the State component and $13.15 for the Town component). This is an increase of 2.2% over the previous year.
Andover Town Taxes
The 2018 Andover Town Meeting voted to appropriate an operating budget of $1,804,127, up from the previous year by $167,209 (10.2%). Additions to various capital reserve funds were approved in the amount of $179,930. Funding for highway special projects was approved for $150,000.
The Select Board applied $150,000 from the previous year unexpended surplus to offset taxes. Other revenues resulted in the net amount to be raised by taxes for 2018 to be $1,247,524. This is down from last year by $130,340 (down 9.5%). The Town tax rate for 2018 is $4.84, down 9.5% from the previous year.
Fire Precinct Taxes
The amount to be raised by taxes for the Andover Fire Precinct for 2018 is $134,671, up $924 over the amount raised for 2017. The tax rate for 2018 is $0.53.
County Taxes
The bill for our share of the Merrimack County 2018 budget is $746.571. This is up from 2017 by $68,915 The county tax rate for this year is $2.89.