By Glenn Rolfe

GEORGETOWN — The town’s taxpayers will see no change in property taxes for fiscal year 2025.

The rate remains at $3.49 per $100 of assessed value for the year beginning May 1, 2024, and ending April 30, 2025.

That’s the same figure as 2024.

Just under $2 million is anticipated to be garnered by property taxes, in support of an $8.6 million budget approved unanimously by the mayor and Town Council at their March 25 meeting.

Town manager Eugene Dvornick Jr. also threw a little caution to the wind, noting that Sussex County is finishing its reassessment.

“Once that happens, usually one-third of parcels go up, one-third go down,” he said. “But I don’t believe we will be adopting those new assessments and then adjusting our rate until FY 2026. I think the county has to have them done and finalized by February of 2025. So, when we are doing our budget in 2025, it will be for FY 2026.”

The formula to determine property tax is one-half of the 1974 assessment value divided by 100 and then multiplied by the current tax rate.

According to Mr. Dvornick, if the average assessment was $15,500, the annual tax bill would be $540.95.

The tax for a higher-priced home, assessed at $80,800, would be $2,819.92. With an assessment of $2,250, the annual bill would be $78.53.

Georgetown’s fiscal year 2025 budget totals $8,627,232, with $1,932,511 projected in property taxes.

Projected expenditures for the general fund, the water fund and the wastewater fund actually total $9,394,111, which was partly covered through $766,879 in internal transfers.

Budget highlights include:

• An increase in the number of police officer positions, from 21 to 25. The Georgetown Police Department is currently staffed by 18, with one recruit having started the police academy Sunday.
• Three new vehicles for the police agency, at a lease estimate of $41,040, and a new dump truck for the Public Works Department, at $61,385
• Funding for rehabilitation projects on North Race, Kimmey and Pepper streets