BARRINGTON -- It now appears "extremely unlikely" the town will exceed the state cap on tax levy increases in the coming year's budget, Town Council president Jeffrey Brenner announced last night. And taxpayers can thank their neighbors' car-buying habits for the break.
Updated figures show Barrington realizing a significant increase in the assessed value of motor vehicles from earlier projections, Brenner said.
"There is a lot of people in town who are buying new cars," Brenner reported. He added: "We are going to have an increase of almost $600,000 in revenue in personal property taxes that we did not anticipate beforehand."
That infusion is expected to take a load off: Brenner gave an estimate of the town's 2005-06 tax levy increase falling between 5 and 5.5 percent. The latter is the state limit.
"I think this is good news," Brenner said.
Most recently, the town might have needed a 6.2 percent tax levy increase to pay for the budget as proposed. The council had authorized the town manager earlier this year to apply for an exception from the state auditor general in case the town needed to accommodate a cap-busting increase.
Even if the auditor general approved the move, which was hardly guaranteed, voters at the May Financial Town Meeting could approve or reject it.
Town officials have said a surge in the mandated payment to the state-administered teachers pension fund, to the tune of some $700,000, has been the driving force in seeking the exception. Communities across the state are grappling with pension increases, which the state Retirement Board set in motion out of concern that the pension fund is underfunded.
The pension problem has touched off efforts in the General Assembly to change the system. Various estimates showed that the change would slice some $380,000 off Barrington's payment. Officials have warned that the pension increases are likely to continue. So even if Barrington does weather the year without having to seriously contemplate exceeding the cap, the great unknown may be the year after.
Brenner said towns rely on the state to provide motor vehicle assessments. He said the town assessor's office had been coordinating with the state to get more information.
Staff Writer Michael P. McKinney can be reached at (401) 277-7447 or at mmckinneATprojo.com.
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