School property tax apportionment detailed

The Monroe-Woodbury school board outlined how this year’s school property tax will be divided among the district’s towns at its Wednesday, Sept. 17 meeting.

This comes as the tax warrant and tax rates for the 2025-26 school year were approved at their Aug. 13 meeting. This year’s total tax levy amounts to $133 million, an increase of approximately $2 million from the previous year’s total.

During the meeting, Patrick Cahill, the Assistant Superintendent for Business and Management Services, gave a presentation, simplifying the process behind the school property tax apportionment.

The district’s tax levy is distributed amongst the towns of Blooming Grove, Chester, Monroe, Tuxedo, and Woodbury.

Cahill said that because each of the five towns in the district are assessed at different levels of market value, the state applies an equalization rate on each town to level the playing field.

He added that the equalization rate is calculated by dividing the total assessed value from the total market value. That process allows the school district to fairly divide its total tax levy among the towns.

Board Member Candice Novack asked for clarification on how assessed values and market values work, noting that assessed values change every few years while market values fluctuate constantly with home sales. Cahill agreed, adding that assessed values change if a property is modified, such as the addition of a deck.

Tax rate breakdown

This year, the towns of Blooming Grove, Chester, and Monroe will experience tax rate increases. Blooming Grove’s rate rose by 4.78% to $187.61 per $1,000 of assessed value. Chester’s rate increased 3.33% to $44.99 per $1,000 of assessed value and Monroe’s rate went up 2.08% to $152.01 per $1,000 of assessed value.

The towns of Tuxedo and Woodbury will see a tax rate decrease. Tuxedo’s rate dropped 2.51% to $142.75 per $1,000 of assessed value and Woodbury’s rate decreased by 1.65% to $59.79 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Blooming Grove saw the largest drop in equalization rates (8.84%), while Woodbury saw the smallest drop at 2.90%. In between, Chester’s equalization rate decreased by 7.57%, Monroe’s dropped by 6.41%, and Tuxedo’s declined by 3.74%.

“The towns with the largest equalization rate decreases saw proportionally larger increases in tax rates,” Cahill said. “So, the takeaway is that the equalization rate changes seem to have a bigger impact even than the increase in the tax levy.”

Residents are expected to submit their payments on or before Wednesday, Oct. 1 to avoid penalties. For more information on how and where to submit the school tax bill, log onto the district’s website at https://shorturl.at/yQW7L.