MANSFIELD: Municipal tax bills cause some taxpayer confusion

By David Kilby, Special Writer
   MANSFIELD — After the tax bills arrived at township homes this past month, the municipality offered a bit of an explanation for the 20 percent increase in local taxes.
   To be exact, the tax levy increase is 20.7 percent and the tax rate increase is 20.25 percent.
   In the 2012 Mansfield budget of approximately $6.803 million, approximately $3.821 million is being raised by taxation, said Joe Monzo, Mansfield chief financial officer.
   Last year’s tax levy was $3.165 million, making this year’s levy more than a 20 percent increase.
   In the township 2012 budget, $1.950 million is for salaries; $1.524 million is for debt service; $444,000 for pensions; $401,000 for health care; $400,000 for the reserve for uncollected taxes; $367,000 for utilities; $265,000 for ambulance and fire; 231,000 for landfill expenses, and $100,000 for grants.
   A big portion of the debt service may be for the new municipal building on Route 206, by the Valero gas station, which the township plans to move into by the end of winter or early spring, Mr. Monzo said.
   Part of any surprise resulting in the tax bills may come from the fact that they were sent two months late, he explained.
   ”The county was (still) adopting (its) budget. (The bill) was supposed to go out in July. Now (residents) are seeing what the actual increase is for us, the school and the county,” Mr. Monzo said.
   The tax rate is 28.74 cents per $100 of assessed value, about a five cent increase from last year’s 23.9. A house assessed at $300,000 would pay $862 a year in municipal taxes.
   ”It seems to me that the municipal portion of the bill is considerably more than what I believed was a two percent cap proposed by the government,” said John Panacek, of South Hockey Drive, at the Township Committee meeting Sept. 26.
   ”The two percent tax law is a fallacy,” said Mr. Monzo in response. “The two percent cap is the floor of what towns are permitted to raise taxes, not the ceiling.”
   He said the cap is a misnomer, and if anything needs to increase by over two percent, whether it be debt service or capital improvements, the municipality is allowed to add it to the budget.
   ”The cap is a good effort to control municipal taxes,” Mr. Monzo added. “But it shouldn’t be looked at as, ‘Okay, my bill was $100 last year, so it should be $102 right now.’ The average (increase for municipalities) last year was over four percent.”
   The main concern for residents should be the number of tax appeals, he explained.
   ”Because of the huge number of appeals, the township lost ratables,” he said at the meeting.
   ”I’ve been here 21 years,” Mr. Panacek said in response. “When I first moved here there was no municipal tax. Now I have a bill for $1,900 — just municipal tax.”
   ”You don’t think that’s a fair amount of money for police protection, garbage pickup and recreation?” Mr. Monzo asked.
   Mr. Panacek said when he first moved to Mansfield there was garbage pickup twice a week, and probably more police coverage per capita.
   ”Personally I think twice-a-week garbage pickup is a luxury most towns can’t afford,” Mr. Monzo said later in a phone interview.
   ”It just doesn’t seem right that none of the appealers are paying for the appeals,” Mr. Panacek said at the meeting.
   ”We don’t collect 100 percent of all the bills sent out,” Mr. Monzo explained in the phone interview. “Let’s say only 97 percent is paid out. The other 3 percent is paid out by the 97 percent. We have to increase the tax rate for those who don’t pay their taxes,” Mr. Monzo explained. “We get close but not 100 percent. We get close to 99 percent, but even that one percent is about $100,000.”
   He said the cost of the average municipal tax bill is about the cost of a night out, or one baseball game, and less than a cable bill.
   ”People are willing to pay that much for entertainment, but when it comes to their protection, animal control and all the things they get from government, they’re up in arms for it,” he said. “Not that they shouldn’t be diligent. They should be getting the most bang for their buck.”