Cost Savings-Local: November 2008 Archives
The Meredith News November 14, 2008
SARAH SCHMIDT
MOULTONBORO — Driven by an increase in the county portion, the projected tax rate for Moultonboro residents is on the rise, from $6.99 per $1,000 in 2007, to $7.65 in the current year. Town Administrator Carter Terenzini presented the tax rate to selectmen and told them that the rate had been approved by the New Hampshire Department of Revenue. The total amount raised is decided by the town’s local assessed valuation - down 2 percent from last year, from about $2,878,000,000 in 2007, to $2,827,646,039 this year. Though all portions of the tax rate are up this year, the most dramatic rise was a 22.78 percent increase in the county portion, from 79 cents to 99 cents.Terenzini said the county portion accounted for about a third of the increase. The town portion came in next, increasing from $2.07 to $2.32, a 12 percent increase. The local school portion increased from $2.01 to $2.16, a 7.46 percent increase, while the state portion of the school tax increased 4.25 percent, from $2.12 to $2.21. Despite these increases, Terenzini warned against people concluding that their taxes would automatically “go up 10 percent,” and said that taxes would vary depending on value and rate. He gave several examples of housing situations in Moultonboro, and how each would be affected by the tax rate. One house in the tenth percentile, assessed at $211,900 in 2007, with taxes of $1,481, had decreased in its assessment in 2008, bumping the taxes up to $1,593, Terenzini said, giving a local example. A house in a median percentile, at $477,000 in 2007, had its taxes rise from $3,335 to $3,481 in 2008, a rise of about 4.4 percent. Properties with a decrease in value of 8.6 percent tend to stay flat in relative dollars, Terenzini said. He also noted that the selectmen had chosen to use of the unreserved fund balance to help out the tax rate, leaving the amount at 7.5 percent. Selectman Chair Karel Crawford noted that the town was searching for ways to increase their efficiencies in order to bring down the budget. “We’ve looked at joining with the school to buy our supplies and oil,” said Crawford. “The department heads are working on their budgets right now.We’re going to look at conservation, and we want to keep the tax rate down.” Crawford also noted that, oddly, her own property’s assessed valuation had inexplicably gone up. Resident Al Hume spoke up about the budget, asking about capital expenditures, and whether the selectmen thought that they could bring the budget for capital expense items “as close to zero as possible.” Selectman Ed
Charest said that selectmen were also looking at the economic situation as an opportunity to “save us money in the long run,” noting that prices for equipment and supplies aren’t going down yet.
The Meredith News October 30, 2008
BY ERIK ZYGMONT
MOULTONBORO — The town has undergone a lighting audit and could save about $10,000 annually in electricity costs, if it first purchases lighting upgrades. According to buildings and grounds head Andy Daigneau, the cost savings would pay for the initial upgrades in a little less than three years. An estimate from LighTec Inc., the company that conducted the audit, proposes a $57,263 for the upgrades. A $28,000 rebate is available from the town’s energy provider, New Hampshire Electric Co-op, if Moultonboro qualifies. According to the audit,the town currently pays $19,233 in lighting costs, and would pay an estimated $9,140 if the upgrades were done. On Thursday, Oct. 9, the Board of Selectmen voted to submit the LighTec proposal to NH Electric Co-op to seek the rebate. The town is still waiting to hear back, Daigneau said. He added that even with the rebate, the upgrades, at close to $30,000, would require voter approval at 2009 Town Meeting.
“At this point, I don’t have $30,000 available to me in my budget to do the retrofit,” he said. According to Daigneau, LighTec analyzed lighting systems in Town Hall, public safety building, recreation building, library, Moultonboro Neck Fire Station, and highway garage. The proposed upgrades would include changing out older light fixtures with new ones, in some cases, that accommodate highly-efficient fluorescent bulbs, Daigneau said. Some light fixtures,he added, use more bulbs than are needed for sufficient lighting. Additionally, Daigneau said, LighTec brought in a specialist to analyze the town’s HVAC systems. “At this time, they determined that the HVAC retrofits pushed the payback period too far out,” Daigneau said, noting that a three-year payback for the cost of improvements is an “acceptable period.” He said that LighTec technician Jim Grady made other recommendations, such as shutting off certain computers when not in use, to save energy costs.
