By Rod Hansen
Staff Writer

Local tax rates may be cut in half, but the prices of homes have doubled.

That’s the reason the town tax collector gave for sharp declines in property tax rates that will ultimately lead to fairly stable tax bills.

Local homes had only been evaluated at 50 percent equalization value last year, said New Boston Tax Collector Ann Charbonneau. This means residences were only valued at half their current value, she said.

The town’s last revaluation was in 1998, according to a letter selectmen sent to residents on Aug. 30. New Boston performed an update for 2006, leading homes to generally increase in value by about 2.2 times, according to the selectmen’s letter.

A decrease in the tax rates counteracts these sharp increases in home values, Charbonneau said.

This year’s overall tax rate has been set at $15.30 per $1,000 of assessed property value, Charbonneau said.

This means the owner of a $300,000 home can expect to pay $4,590 in property taxes this year.

This year’s town portion of the tax rate is set at $2.05, down from last year’s total of $6.07 in town taxes.

The local school portion of the tax rate has also declined to $10.32 from $16.46, and state schools stands at $2.03, down from last year’s $4.44.

The county section of the tax rate is set at 90 cents per $1,000, more than $1 less than last year’s $1.93.

New Boston tax bills were to be mailed by Oct. 30 with a due date of Dec. 1, according to information on the town Web site.