Based on the new tax rate figure published by the Town Council in yesterday's Westerly Sun (page 3 legal notice), I have updated my April 18th posting that offers a comparison of what the new tax rate will do to three representative samples of Charlestown residents.
As Tom notes in his posting below, we don't know exactly why the tax rate changed from $8.95 presented by the Budget Commission on March 28 to the $9.04 in the Town's April 22th legal notice. The town did add $100,000 to cover anticipated litigation costs at its April 11th meeting (the most likely use would be to for the town to defend itself from EEOC charges filed by sitting Council member Lisa DiBello). Budget Commission head Richard Sartor noted that this addition would need an additional four cent tax hike. Sartor is one of the persons charged in Ms. DiBello's complaint.
We'll let you know how the other five cents of the new $9.04 tax rate came to be as soon as we can.
Please use the updated Progressive Charlestown Magic Tax Calculator to see how much your new tax bill will be.