Assessors and Selectmen Coordinate $2 Million Electric Account Offsets to Stabilize Municipal Rates

Homeowners here may be paying no more property taxes next year than they are now, but they probably will not know that for sure for another month. Assessor James J. Drummey announced that Norwood’s final tax rate for the 1974-75 fiscal year will probably not be set until the second week in July. Although he and finance commission members remain highly cautious in speculating that the tax rate will be lower than originally expected, Selectman Chairman Joseph W. Wall says there may be no increase at all in the present $39 rate. At the very least, Mr. Wall stated, “I would be very surprised if the tax rate goes up more than $1.” Conversely, Mr. Drummey maintained that “it is hard to speculate,” sticking for now with the conservative $4 increase originally estimated in the FinCom’s annual town meeting appropriation booklet, while promising that “we will try to pick up all the loose cash we can.” FinCom Chairman E. Peter Bamber and member Joseph R. Adakonis reinforced that cautious stance, noting that the finance board has not yet officially altered its baseline projections.

What Mr. Wall and other town officials have based their optimistic predictions on is the strategic deployment of $2 million in delayed light department receipts to completely offset the projected tax rate increase. Mr. Drummey will not speculate on that outcome until he formally applies to the state Department of Corporations and Taxation for permission to use the offsetting receipts at the close of the fiscal year. The $2 million represents money collected from electric light bills last year under higher fuel adjustment charges, which had not been credited as active receipts due to a three-month billing delay caused by the department’s systemic changeover to a computer system. Town officials are similarly evaluating the use of increased water receipts from higher utility rates to cushion the tax burden. Mr. Wall noted that the only obstacle to state approval would be if the utility figures were incorrectly reported. Following complaints from Town Accountant Bartley W. Connolly weeks ago regarding missing utility summaries, Town Manager John P. Mogan confirmed that the verified light and water tallies have now been successfully forwarded to the accounting office.

In addition to the electric utility revenue, town administrators are hoping to utilize $210,079 in additional “cherry sheet” state reimbursements. This additional aid will become due if an impending legislative bill altering the distribution formula for state aid passes the legislature and is signed into law. Mr. Drummey is intentionally delaying the formal setting of the tax rate until July to ensure that final calculations capture employee wage increases expected to be approved at the upcoming June 26 special town meeting. The school department has successfully concluded wage negotiations with its employees and hopes to have a signed contract with teachers by the special session. These school salary increases could total $500,000 more than originally estimated, while an additional $200,000 above early projections was appropriated for municipal salary hikes and items not recommended by the FinCom. Unofficial calculations combining the negative impact of these late salary outlays with the earlier $4 prediction, and subtracting the $2 million computer billing revenue, indicate that the final 1974-75 tax rate could successfully stabilize at the current $39 mark. This represents a massive shift from December, when preliminary estimates and a 10 percent school budget wage allowance led the FinCom to predict a staggering $11 tax rate hike.

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger