By Wayne E. Rivet

Staff Writer

HARRISON — Sometimes, too many numbers can lead to confusion.

Town Manager Tim Pellerin always strives to be transparent, especially when it comes to municipal finances.

So, with Harrison ready to try a new experiment — to ditch the annual town meeting format and go with a secret ballot for all warrant articles (a decision made before COVID-19 entered the picture) — Pellerin looked to give taxpayers all the information they might need to make their decisions.

The town report is very detailed — almost to a fault, Pellerin found out.

“We tried to get as much information out to be as transparent to the public, but in doing so, it created some confusion. It became overwhelming for some,” Pellerin said.

One elderly citizen called and simply asked, “What does this all mean?” and “Will my taxes go up?”

“It made me realize that we need to do a better job of keeping it simple so that the citizens can understand the information,” Pellerin said. “In municipal government, you fight trying to find a balance. Municipal budgets are highly regulated, there are statutory requirements and yet you want to be transparent, but not be confusing, that’s difficult. Sometimes, you forget — as managers — all these figures make sense to me, but for the general public, it can be overwhelming.”

Yet, there are some taxpayers who want to see all the figures as a way to hold municipal officials accountable while also seeing how their money was spent.

“I encourage people to come in if they have questions. I’ve had a few come in to talk about taxes and budgets. I have an open-door policy,” Pellerin added.

To the first question: Will taxes go up if the proposed budget is approved?

Answer: Yes, probably a small amount.

This year, the municipal budget — operations, capital & reserve, capital roads — went down almost a half percent ($3,461,265 to $3,459,401 — decrease of $1,864, -0.0539%.

There were increases in municipal operations, so officials decreased the reserve and capital road lines to balance the budget.

“We felt it was imperative — that due to the economic times — that we should try our best to present a zero-based budget, as close as we could get,” he said. “These are the factors we have control of, which we brought in at under zero percent.”

The items Harrison officials don’t have control of include county tax and education.

The county tax dipped $3,252. Pellerin said the county had another budget proposal in the works (an 18-month split budget to change the cycle to mirror municipalities), but the pandemic struck, and officials decided to stay the current course.

The tax payment to SAD 17 could jump $153,034 (up 4.97%) if the budget is approved.

If you combine county and school, the increase is 3.87%.

When you mold the entire package together, Harrison will see a $147,918 increase or 2.017% increase.

Based on that number, Pellerin attempted to give taxpayers a “snapshot” of what it will cost them if the budget is approved. There is one catch — Pellerin had to use last year’s figures, in some cases.

“There are three to four items that we don’t have the factors or figures on yet, which need to be figured in for us to determine the mill rate,” Pellerin emphasized. “We won’t get them until mid-July.”

An example, the town’s property value assessment will change.

“We know we built more homes and additions, so the town’s property value will be going up. When you apply that value, taxes go down,” he said. “So what we came up with is the highest estimated calculation for what the increase in taxes will be for next year.”

Right now, Harrison has a mill rate of $11.02. The highest the rate will be, Pellerin predicted, will be $11.60.

So, to the question, “how much will my taxes go up?” the answer is:

For a property valued at $75,000, the hike is $30.

$100,000 — $40

$125,000 — $50

$150,000 — $60

$200,000 — $80

$250,000 — $100

$300,000 — $120

“I think it will be lower (the tax increase), but I think $11.60 is the highest it will come in,” Pellerin said.

The number of tax lien notices sent out this year was “substantial,” Pellerin reported. Last year, 90 to 96 lien notices went out for failing to pay taxes by the deadline (30-day final notice goes out in May, if taxes aren’t paid a lien is placed at the end of June). This year, the number reached over 200.

“There weren’t many $6,000 to $10,000 owed taxes, most of them were small amounts, $1,000 or $1,200 or $978. What that tells me is people with properties valued at $150,000 and down are having a tough time,” Pellerin said. “We’re not in the business of real estate. We don’t want to take people’s properties. We set the budget on the amount of taxes we assume we can collect. So, we have to get close to that amount.”