WEST PARIS — The Select Board on Thursday set a mil, or property tax, rate of $15.25 per $1,000 of assessed property valuation for fiscal year 2024-25 — an increase of $1.05, or 7.4%.

For example, under the new tax rates, a property tax bill on a $200,000 home would be $3,050, an increase of $210.

Town Manager Joy Downing attributed the increase to the cost of everything going up, specifically the county tax bill and the Maine School Administrative District 17 budget.

Donna Hayes, the town’s tax assessor, recommended a mil rate of $15.20, but Select Board member Wade Rainey suggested going with the higher rate to receive an overlay more consistent with those in the past.

This year’s overlay is expected to be $28,531.32, compared to last year’s overlay of $35,544.20.

The overlay is the amount of taxes the town collects beyond its expenses. The funds will be deposited into the town’s undesignated fund balance, or surplus. They are often used to offset tax abatements or reduce the tax burden.

“We’re still a little lower than we were. We were over $18,” Rainey said.

In 2019, a mil rate of $19.60 was approved.

The school district budget will be reduced eventually, since voters rejected it for a second time Aug. 6.

Select Board Chair John Eli White noted that the budget did not pass even after all the funding for West Paris’ Agnes Gray Elementary School — the 1800s building that was suddenly shuttered in February — was removed.

“(It’s) a school that didn’t close, but now there’s no budget for it either,” White said.

The Select Board approved paying a warrant of $131,747.28, which included July’s payment to the school district. Downing said the town was holding off on paying until the second budget vote.

However, since the school budget is expected to be reduced, the town will likely see a reimbursement for overpayment once the budget eventually does pass, she said.

Also on Thursday, the board accepted a $5,000 grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life for election purchases, like new voting booths.

The Select Board’s meeting on Sept. 12 has been rescheduled to the week prior, Sept. 5, because the town office will be closed.

The next board meeting is at 5 p.m. Aug. 22. at the Town Office.