Property owners in the village of Dorchester will see only a slight increase in their property taxes in 2012. The village council voted to accept its new budget at a special meeting held last week in council chambers.
Posting a deficit of -$23, 647 for the second previous year, 2010, the village plans to absorb those costs over the next three years. "There is no way we could include that much in this year's budget given that we've already tightened it up as much as we could," village clerk-treasurer Simonne Malenfant-Edgett said last week.
She noted that the village will dip into its reserve funds to cover some water and sewer costs as well as to support some recreation department programs and services.
"We had to trim expenses, that's the bottom line, but were able to do that without increasing the tax rate a lot," she said, adding that costs for just about everything have been increasing over the past few years.
By cutting proposed expenditures for this year, council brought in a budget of $841,093 for 2012. Its non-tax revenue is projected at $149,016, up almost $17,000 from last year while the provincial unconditional grant has been set at $87,147, down almost $1,800 from 2011. The village's warrant (monies raised though property taxes) is projected to be $$606,587.
The fire department budget increased marginally to $167,176 for 2012, however the village did trim $900 off its $3,650 EMO services budget. Costs for RCMP coverage increased once again, from $129,804 in 2011 to $137,637 in 2012.
The water and sewer budget is set at $141,330, down from $154,946, of last year; the reduction reflected in a decrease in projected water costs for fire protection.
The Village of Dorchester includes 1119 households of which 253 are village property owners, the remaining 886 representing the Dorchester Penitentiary, which lies within the village boundaries. The municipal tax base is calculated at $39,812,399.
