A slight spending decrease and an anticipated decline in the local tax rate are part of the Lee fire district’s proposed 2018 budget.
The $298,394 spending plan is down from the 2017 budget of $298,501, said town Board of Fire Commissioners Chairman Patrick Hetherington.
The budget is supported by local property taxes that included a 2017 rate of $26.46 per $1,000 of assessed valuation.
Hetherington noted the tax rate is “a function of the total assessed value of the properties in the town which the fire district has no control over.” But he added the rate is anticipated to go down, due to increased total property value value in the town based on new construction, and “coupled with a marginal decrease in budgeted spending” by the fire district.