Canterbury residents will see 25% increase in school portion of taxes this December

By JEREMY MARGOLIS

Monitor staff

Published: 10-10-2024 4:28 PM

Canterbury residents are set to see a major increase on the school portion of their December tax bill, town officials wrote late last month.

The 25% jump means a homeowner with an assessed property value of $400,000 will experience a tax hike of $1,096, and will be billed a total of $5,460 on the school portion of their taxes, the town has projected. 

The tax rate hike is primarily driven by the combination of a district-wide budget increase and an increase in the proportion of the budget Canterbury pays.

The two-town Shaker Regional School district divides its expenses between Canterbury and Belmont on the basis of a formula that takes student enrollment and property valuation into account. Last school year, Canterbury’s proportion increased from between 21% and 22% to approximately 24%, district Business Administrator Debbie Thompson said in an interview.

Meanwhile, the portion of the district’s budget that affects local taxes increased approximately $1.4 million to $27.2 million. That jump was primarily driven by an increase in staff salaries and benefits, and a new transportation contract, Thompson said. The district also experienced a concurrent loss in revenue.

The Canterbury school tax rate of $13.65 per $1,000 in property value is actually lower than the $14.56 that Shaker school district officials had anticipated at their annual meeting last March.

Belmont has yet to set its December 2024 tax rate and Town Administrator Alicia Jipson said it’s “too soon to tell” where it will land. She expects to have more information in about two weeks. In March, district officials projected Belmont’s tax rate would increase 17%.

Thompson said unanticipated special education expenses – a major driver of unpredictable budget fluctuation in many districts – were not a factor in Canterbury’s tax rate jump. In fact, the district recently had a couple of students with out-of-district placements age out of the school district, she said.

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Another common factor – the expiration of the third round of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds (ESSER) – also had no effect on the tax rate increase, Thompson said.

Canterbury Town Administrator Ken Folsom said he has yet to hear from any concerned residents since the town’s letter went out.

“To be honest with you, we haven’t heard anything, which really surprises the heck out of me,” Folsom said. “I had one person contact me and ask for some clarification, and that was it.”

Canterbury has long flirted with withdrawing from the regional school district. A committee formed to study the idea voted 5-2 in favor of withdrawal late last year, but the request was ultimately rejected by the State Board of Education.

The move would have likely raised expenses for both towns, rather than lowered them, according to the report.

Jeremy Margolis can be contacted at jmargolis@cmonitor.com.