Growth keeps lid on taxes in LaSalle budget

LaSalle council has approved a $34.3-million budget with no increase.

“The biggest factor is we’ve had a lot of growth,” Dale Langlois, LaSalle’s director of finance and treasurer, said Monday.

The average home built in LaSalle last year was worth $600,000, he said. That means LaSalle will receive $1.3 million in taxes from the millions of dollars worth of new residential construction. About 272 residential units were added last year, Langlois said. It’s mostly large homes, not raised ranches. Without that growth, LaSalle would have had to consider a tax increase or cutbacks on services, he said. Increased assessments helped the town add $2.6 million to its levy without increasing its portion of the tax bill.

County council’s budget and education taxes are the other part of the overall tax bill so it’s too early to know what the final amount will be for LaSalle taxpayers. The LaSalle portion of the tax bill can be calculated by multiplying $963.40 for each $100,000 of your home’s assessed value, Langlois said. Many residential taxpayers in LaSalle will likely see an increase in their tax bill because of the reassessment done by the Municipal Property Assessment Corporation in 2016. The increase in MPAC assessments is being phased in for property owners.

The 2019 budget includes extra money for reserves. There’s $300,000 being put aside for the fire department for needs that are identified in the fire master plan. There’s $500,000 for reserves for new services that come out of other master plans being done on the Vollmer Complex, roads, trails and parks including the marina purchase and what will be done at the waterfront, he said.