By ARCHIE MOUNTAIN
NEWPORT — Nine Sullivan County communities have received information that their Sullivan County tax assessment for 2018 will be less than 2017 while the remaining six towns will be paying more.
Initially, the Sullivan County Delegation approved a budget of $13,691,212 to be raised by property taxes from the 15 Sullivan County communities, a 1.61 percent increase from 2017.
However, due to an unexpected increase in ProShare revenue from the New Hampshire Department of Health and Human Services, the Delegation was able to reduce the amount to be raised by taxes by $417,819, which resulted in a 1.5 percent decrease compared to last year.
The annual Sullivan County tax rate is set by the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration.
This year’s adjusted tax amount of $13,273,392 is slightly less than what was raised in Fiscal Year 2011, according to a letter to Sullivan County municipalities from the Sullivan County Commissioners’ Office.
Sunapee saw its tax assessment reduced by $84,352 to $3,629,169 or 27.3417 of the overall total. Claremont also enjoyed a cut of $64,778 at $1,996,375 or a 15.0404 percent share.
The Town of Washington saw the largest hike, going up $42,074 to $675,312. Newport will pay an additional $30,441 or 9.4783 percent of the entire budget.
Other big winners were Plainfield, down $40,499; Charlestown, down $36,687 and Springfield, $26,479 lower.
The county’s equalized value as determined by the New Hampshire Department of Revenue Administration increased by $49.6 million compared to the previous year.
The increased equalized value, coupled with the decrease in tax amount, lowered the average tax rate from $2.97 to $2.84. Note, however, this is the County-wide average and each municipality actual rate differs.
“Overall, Sullivan County remains in a healthy financial position thanks to the leadership and shrewd financial management of the County’s department heads as well as the strong bi-partisan oversight provided by the Delegation’s Executive Finance Committee and Board of Commissioners,” County Manager Derek Ferland wrote in his communication to all 15 County communities.
Ferland said the county achieved its goal of eliminating the use of undesignated fund balance to subsidize tax offsets and capital expenditures.
“We built a $600,000 wedge into this year’s budget for capital project and equipment and we also have a fiscal performance target of being 4 percent under our approved expenditure budget, which will create the structural mechanism necessary to create net year’s tax offset,” Ferland revealed.
“Of course, this assumes we meet revenue targets for the year and any negative variance will require the use of fund balance to make up the difference.”
In his communication Ferland also spoke of the 2018 New Hampshire Association of Counties Annual Conference Sullivan County hosted at Mount Sunapee. “The conference provided approximately $100,000 in economic activity for local hotels, restaurants and shops.”
Ferland also stated the county has renewed its efforts to establish a transitional housing capability in the county to provide a safe environment for people recovering from substance abuse while they work and reintegrate into the community.
He also said work will continue on the Regional Economic Profile project that started last year. “There are three task forces that are remobilizing for action again in January,” he stated.
They include Workforce Development; Economic Infrastructure/Diversified Economy, and Quality of Life/Regional Identity/Human and Social Capital.
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