BEACON – Homeowners in
the City of Beacon will see a modest increase in property taxes and commercial
taxpayers will see a decline of just under one percent in the newly adopted
2016 budget.
The $19.6 million general fund includes a 1.4 percent increase in residential property tax and a 0.9 percent decline in the commercial tax rate. Water and sewer rates will each increase by five percent.
The city had to tap the city’s general fund reserve again this year, a practice Mayor Randy Casale would like to end.
“It’s basically a hold-the-line budget. We used $247,500 from fund balance, which is down from $400,000 last year,” Casale said. “We are trying to get so we don’t use fund balance to balance our budget.”
The Beacon budget falls within the state tax cap.
