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Vice Chair Susan Verdicchio said the Board should put the override question to voters.
“People have been waiting for 20 years on this culvert and getting the whole thing finished,” said Verdicchio, who also reminded Board members of the catastrophic floods from March 2010. “You don’t notice when the flooding when it’s absent and you think you really don’t know what the need is.”
A debt exclusion is a temporary increase in the town s tax levy limit. A debt exclusion finances a particular project or projects and taxes increase for some time, usually 10-20 years, to cover the cost of the project.
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To help keep the financial burden off the shoulders of local business owners, the Select Board opted to keep one tax rate for FY21 during its virtual meeting on Dec. 7.
According to Director of Assessments Dan McGurl, the tax levy is rising 5.5% and the town has $1.7 million left in the excess levy.
This year the average tax bill will be $15,034, up 5.2% from last year, with an average assessment $1,172,000.
“Overall, it’s not a bad year,” McGurl said. “The market is very good for Winchester, as is most of Massachusetts. Our prices keep increasing. Things are selling fast.”