Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The Windsor Town Council voted unanimously Tuesday, June 13, to approve and adopt the town’s proposed fiscal year 2023-24 operating budget, five-year Capital Improvements Plan, tax rates and water rate.

The council also appropriated the requisite funds for the budget, and the budget consists of the following balanced funds:

• General Fund — $4,431,726.54
• Water Fund — $1,696,000
• Space Needs Fund — $155,000
• Town Center Fund — $50,500

The council voted to lower the real estate tax rate from 14 to 13 cents per $100 of assessed value. However, because the assessed value of real property has increased, the 13-cent rate represents an effective tax rate increase of 15.35%.

A public notice from the town indicated that “individual property taxes may, however, increase at a percentage greater than or less than the above percentage.”

The notice opened by addressing the assessment increase: “Total assessed value of real property, excluding additional assessments due to new construction or improvements to property, exceeds last year’s total assessed value of real property by 24%.”

Next, the notice explained that a lowered rate would be necessary to offset the increased assessment.

“The tax rate which would levy the same amount of real estate tax as last year, when multiplied by the new total assessed value of real estate with the exclusions mentioned above, would be $0.1127 per $100 of assessed value,” Windsor Town Clerk Terry Whitehead wrote.

The difference between the 11.27-cent rate and the adopted 13-cent rate is the aforementioned 15.35%.

Whitehead stated in the notice that based on the proposed 13-cent real property tax rate and changes in other revenues, the total FY 2023-24 town budget will exceed its 2022-23 counterpart by 5.2%.

The following tax rates were adopted by the council on June 13 for tax year 2023:

• Real estate — 13 cents per $100 of assessed value
• Service corporations — 13 cents per $100 of assessed value
• Mobile homes — 13 cents per $100 of assessed value
• Personal property — 50 cents per $100 of assessed value
• Machinery and tools — 25 cents per $100 of assessed value
• Cigarette tax — 40 cents per pack
• Meals tax — 6%

The Town Council also adopted the in-town water rate at $8.25 per 1,000 gallons and the out-of-town water rate at $8.75 per 1,000 gallons.