By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer

(March 12, 2020) Mayor Gee Williams suggested raising the Berlin property tax rates by three cents at the mayor and Town Council meeting on Monday.

Berlin Mayor Gee Williams

Although Williams introduced the number as a possible tax increase, no decisions will be made until the general fund budget work session on Monday, April 6.

“What I’m proposing for the next fiscal year, which begins July 1, is increasing our property tax rates from 80 cents per $100 to 83 cents per $100,” Williams said. “I’ll be showing where these additional revenues and where they would be … are recommending where they will be, to be adopted into the proposed budget.”

Last year, the town raised its tax rate from $.68 to $.80, an 18 percent increase. Finance Director Natalie Saleh said during a budget work session in February that the town’s current rate would produce property tax revenue of about $3.5 million in the coming fiscal year. She said that if the rate were to be increased to $.83, a 3.75 percent jump, an additional $130,879 would be generated for the town.

A public hearing will be held in two weeks regarding the potential tax increase.

Some members of the audience remain unhappy with the tax increase from last year.

“I will submit for the records the state average [for property taxes] is 43 cents,” resident Jason Walter said. “If you keep the rate the same, you’ll see about $75,000 in new revenue. That doesn’t account for any additional developments or improvements.”

This comment was first made to the council during the last meeting in February, when Walter had previously mentioned the town’s property tax rates were nearly twice the state average, and repeated it again during Monday’s meeting in order to be added to the public comments section.