Proposed Operating Budget Represents 14-Cent Tax Increase

Bedford Town Manager Jessie Levine's proposed Bedford Municipal Budget, as is currently constituted, would represent a $3.88 per month increase to the average Bedford home owners taxes.

In a letter, presented to the Town Council its Oct. 23 meeting, Levine explained that the $26,284,180 proposal represents a two-percent increase in gross appropriations and a 2.8 increase overall over the $4.97 2013 tax rate, which was recently certified by the state.

The bump is predicted to represent a $46 tax raise for a $328,000 property, which is the median assessed valuation for a Bedford home.

Of the projected 2.8-percent increase, .8-percent, or $13 on average, can be directly attributed to contractual obligations from previous years.

In total, the municipal responsibility for Bedford taxpayers would jump from $4.97 cents per $1,000 assessed valuation to $5.11, or from $1,630 on a $328,000 home to $1,676.

Last year's approved budget represented a $145 increase on a $362,000 home, which was the median home price prior to a recent revaluation.

The lone discretionary item of significance in the 2014 proposal, said Levine, is a $53,842 allocation for the hiring, training and salary of one additional full-time police officer, though she noted Bedford Police Chief John Bryfonski had requested two additional officers and an administrative sergeant.