Final state assessment raises town’s proposed tax rate

The tax rate for the Town of Fredonia is expected to go up an additional 12 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation from what town officials previously thought after the state Department of Revenue released the village’s final equated statement of assessment. 

The tax rate in the proposed 2020 budget is now projected at $2.64 per $1,000, up 29 cents from last year. That means the owner of a $200,000 home would pay $528 in town property taxes, up $60 from last year.

Officials had projected a 17-cent rate increase.

Town electors will vote on the proposed budget at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 13, at the Fredonia Government Center.

Supervisors are asking voters to exceed the state-mandated levy limit by $68,000, primarily to fix town roads.

Under the proposed budget, the property tax levy would go up 12% from $500,180 to $568,281.

The state allows communities to increase the property tax levy only by the net value of new construction, which in the town’s case would be 1.44%, or about $7,200. 

Under state law, voters must authorize officials to tax above that amount.