January 19, 2011
Tax bills have been issued. This represents the first step of the change to the new July-June fiscal year. Last March, townspeople voted to proceed with changing our fiscal operating year to July 1 through June 30. In order to get the new fiscal year, two things have to occur:
First, there was a six-month transitional period budget that was brought before a town meeting on November 20, 2010. Knowing this was going to be a difficult change, the Board of Selectmen directed all department heads to keep their budgets as low as possible. This budget is for basic municipal services from January 1, 2011 through June 30, 2011, deferring reserve monies, and larger purchases and projects to the full fiscal year budget. The tax bills recently issued is for the 6 month period, which is approximately one half of your normal annual bill, and is payable by February 14, 2011, with interests starting February 15, 2011. These dates were selected by and voted on by the taxpayers at the November 20, 2010 town meeting. This we refer to as a "6-month year", a necessary part in making the transition.
Secondly, the Annual Town Meeting will be held June 25, 2011. From this point forward each annual town meeting will normally be the last Saturday in June.
Please note that in no case will you be paying more taxes than you normally would. For the next eighteen months the payments will just be scheduled differently. The 6-month tax payment is made for the period January 1, 2011 to June 30, 2011. In July of 2011 you will pay a full year's tax, which will be for July 1, 2011 to June 30, 2012.
Changing a process that we have become accustomed to for so many years can become difficult. However, voters at our March 2010 Town Meeting believed this change is in the best interests of the Town of Farmingdale. If you have any questions, please contact the town office at 582-2225.
Board of Selectmen