Milton property tax increase expected to be more than 30%

After some questions about how large a proposed Milton property tax increase will be following the first presentation of the fiscal year 2025 budget, town officials have confirmed the increase is expected to be between 30% and 34%.

What the exact figure is has not yet been determined; the budget is set to be reviewed by the town’s finance committee at 3 p.m., Monday, July 29, and by town council Monday, Aug. 5, and alterations figure to be made before the budget is voted on by council in September. Council must have the budget in place before the new fiscal year begins Oct. 1.

Town Manager Kristy Rogers said the increase was “about 30%,” while Mayor John Collier said by his math, the increase was around 33%. At the bottom of the town’s proposed fee schedule for FY 2025 is the number for the increase: $0.434 per $100 of assessed market value. 

The proposed increase would bring in an estimated $2.5 million, an increase of nearly $1 million compared to the $1.7 million in property tax revenue expected in FY 2024. The first draft of the budget left the town with a $13,000 surplus.

In her first presentation to council July 18, Rogers said the increase would help in the town’s long-range financial planning, keep services as they are and keep the town from having to use realty transfer tax revenue or reserve funds to balance the budget, as the town has had to do in recent years.

This would be the town’s third tax increase in as many years, after a 17% increase in FY 2023 and a 9% increase in FY 2024. In both cases, Collier said the increases were to keep town services at the level citizens have become accustomed to.