Peterborough’s tax rate is up by $1.13 this year, set at $30.84 per $1,000 of assessed value.

While the town portion is up by 28 cents this year, jumping from $10.06 in 2015 to $10.34 this year, the majority of the increase is attributed to an increase in the school portion of the tax rate.

Peterborough anticipated not using any fund balance to offset the tax rate, calculating that the budget increases would result in a 2.8 percent rise in the towns portion – on target with the final determination, according to Peterborough Town Administrator Rodney Bartlett.

“We do our very best to keep taxes affordable here and strive very hard to do that,” said Select Board member Barbara Miller. 

The local education portion of the tax rate comprises the largest amount of the increase, going from $15.82 in 2015 to $16.65 this year, an increase of 5.2 percent or 83 cents.

The state education portion of the tax rate stayed level at $2.49. The county portion crept up by two cents, from $1.34 to $1.36.

With the new tax rate, a homeowner with a property assessed at $200,000 can expect to pay a yearly tax bill of $6,168, compared to a bill of $5,942 for a similarly assessed property in 2016.