Wayland Patch 12/14/11: Wayland Selectmen Set Uniform FY12 Tax Rate. The average Wayland property owner will pay less in FY12 property taxes than they did in FY11 thanks to a vote at Special Town Meeting and the Board of Selectmen’s subsequent approval of a tax rate of $19.01 per $1,000 of assessed value. The average Wayland residential home value in FY12 is $593,050, which means the average taxpayer will owe $11,274. For comparison, the average home value in FY11 was $592,285 and was taxed at a rate of $19.35 per $1,000 of value for an average tax bill of $11,460. Also on Monday, selectmen voted to maintain a uniform tax rate for residential and commercial property in town, citing a desire to attract business as Wayland Town Center is developed and to help the small businesses already in town.

Wayland Town Crier 12/13/11: Selectmen set Wayland’s tax rate. The Board of Selectmen voted last night to set the residential and commercial tax rate in town at $19.01 per $1,000 of property value for the current fiscal year, which ends in June 2012, a lower rate than the previous year. The owner of the average single-family home, assessed at $593,050, will pay $11,273 in taxes this fiscal year. At special Town Meeting in November, residents approved a tax relief article calling for the town to apply additional free cash to the already approved fiscal 2012 budget.

Wayland Patch 10/12/11: Special Town Meeting Scheduled; State of the Town Postponed. Wayland residents will have a chance to reexamine the FY12 budget during a special town meeting on Nov. 17 at Wayland Middle School. Monday night, the Board of Selectmen officially set the date for the special town meeting called by a petition submitted last Friday that included 397 validated signatures from residents. The meeting will take place at 7:30pm, in the gymnasium at Wayland Middle School. The warrant for the special town meeting will include at least the two articles submitted as part of the petition to call the meeting as well as an article submitted by the Board of Selectmen proposing residents approve option C of four options vetted by the Finance Committee. After reaching conclusions regarding the upcoming Special Town Meeting, Board of Selectmen Chair Tom Fay proposed postponing the State of the Town meeting scheduled for Nov. 19 in light of the now scheduled Special Town Meeting.

Wayland Town Crier 10/12/11: Wayland calls Special Town Meeting of Nov. 17, disposition of free cash at issue. Selectmen last night voted to call a special Town Meeting on Nov. 17 responding to a petition from a group of residents who want to tap into the town's hefty free cash account to lower their tax bills. The residents hope to apply a surplus of free cash to the town's previously approved fiscal 2012 budget. The petition for a special Town Meeting did not specify the amount of free cash to be applied, which has town officials worried. The amount of free cash certified at this year's annual Town Meeting was $8.5 million, or 13.2 percent of the total budget. Due to unanticipated revenues, that amount has grown to $10.3 million, or 14.9 percent. A resident at last week's selectmen's meeting suggested returning $5 million in free cash to taxpayers in the form of lower fiscal 2012 tax bills.