Every year at this time, Town Hall receives various questions about tax bills received by residents in the mail. The Town does not set the scheduling of tax bills being mailed out at the end of the holiday season; state statute has established this requirement. It is important, however, to provide an overview of various factors that went into the approval by residents for this year’s town operating budget at the Annual and Special Town Meetings, upon which our tax bills are based.
First, an overview of Dighton’s Fiscal Year 2024 (FY24) operating budget can be found at https://www.dighton-ma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/2481/Annual-Town-Meeting-2023-Informational-Overview. These Overviews have become a key part of our engagement with residents in advance of Town Meetings as have transparent updates throughout Dighton’s budget process.
This year’s budget was built with a cautious approach to revenue and expenditure forecasting. This has been especially important with Fiscal Year 2024 being the first year of Bristol-Plymouth Regional Technical School (B-P) building project debt service being assessed to Dighton in the amount of $254,000 with a projected increase to nearly $900,000 during the next five years. These increases were absorbed as we also continue to absorb approximately $149,000 a year in Bristol County Agricultural High School (Bristol Aggie) capital debt service costs on top of typical enrollment-based educational assessment costs for the Dighton-Rehoboth Regional School District, Bristol Aggie, and B-P. These factors continue to make it difficult for the Town to fund its own capital needs with recurring revenues.
With the exception of the $254K increase for the B-P school construction project, Dighton’s operational fiscal position changed minimally from FY23 to FY24. However, for the last six years, the Town has utilized portions of available one-time revenue to help reduce the tax rate ($600K in FY23, $380K in FY22, $391K in FY21, etc.).
The Board of Selectmen, together with the Finance Committee and the Financial Team, proposed at October’s Special Town Meeting that $250,000 be used to do the same in FY24, but Town Meeting chose to defeat the Article.
It is important to note that, while Dighton has one of the higher residential tax rates in the region, a comparison which takes into account assessed valuations shows that Dighton is right in the middle of Bristol County communities in terms of its average single family tax bill. Some communities have a single, low tax rate with high values. Others have split rates with lower residential rates and higher rates for commercial, industrial and personal property. Other communities have a high single rate, but lower overall average tax bill based on valuation.
A third element of annual tax bills relate to assessed values and any changes in assessed values as determined by the Board of Assessors. More details about assessed values, eligible exemptions for seniors, veterans and other residents, and the abatement process can be found on the Assessing Department webpage at www.dighton-ma.gov/216/Assessing and/or by calling the Assessing Office at (508) 669-6431-Extension 8.
For an PowerPoint overview on the Board of Assessor's Tax Rate presentation provided at the Board of Selectmen's Tax Rate Hearing in November 2023, please click here.
Finally, it is important to note that the tax assessments for the Dighton Water District, North Dighton Water District and the Dighton Electric District are included in the Town’s tax annual tax bills, but these entities have been established and exist as separate governmental jurisdictions with their governance and operations separate from that of the Town of Dighton.
We hope this overview is helpful in providing context to a lengthy but important process. As always, please feel free to pop by Town Hall or send me an email at mmullen@dighton-ma.gov if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Mike Mullen, Jr., Town Administrator