WATERBORO – Property owners will see a bit of a tax increase when their bills arrive within the next few days.

Selectmen at their Tuesday meeting set the mil rate at $15.44  per $1,000 worth of property assessment. That is up 20 cents from the current mil rate of $15.24, or by about 1.3 percent.

The 20 cent increase means a home valued at $150,000 would see a property tax increase of about $30.

The choice was the most modest of three possibilities offered by Assessor Shirley Bartlett. It gives the town an overlay of about $84,000 — money it uses to make up for any tax abatement its grants throughout the year.

Bartlett also offered a choice of a mil rate set at $15.47, a 1.5 percent increase in the mil rate which would have provided a $105,000 overlay, as well as a $15.50 mil rate, putting the overlay at $127,000.

“I’m not sure we’ve hit the overlay much in the last few years,” said Waterboro selectmen’s board Chairman Dennis Abbott. He said any overlay money that goes unused rolls over into the general fund and is applied to lower the tax rate in the following year.

Town Administrator Gary Lamb said only about $25,000 of last year’s overlay was used. Bartlett said the overlay was $148,558 last year.

“I think we have an obligation to stabilize the tax rate,” said Abbott. He said he preferred modest increases, rather than no increases at all for several years followed by a big tax hike.

Selectman Dwayne Woodsome motioned for the $15.44 rate, which was seconded by Selectmen Tim Neill.

Selectman Gordon Littlefield initially said he favored the second option, for consistency’s sake in the overlay, but Abbott pointed out only abatements come from the overlay account. Abbott said the town’s crisis fund and undesignated fund balance were both in good financial shape.

In the end, the vote was unanimous.

Selectmen said property owners should receive their tax bills soon.

In nearby Limerick, the mil rate is $15.75 per $1,000 of assessed property value, according to the town’s website. In Alfred, which also borders Waterboro, the mil rate is $15.90.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.