HOULTON – A yearlong effort on the part of town officials to pinch pennies and keep a close eye on the municipal ledger has paid off for taxpayers.

Residents learned recently that they would not see an increase in the mill rate this year.

During a recent meeting, town councilors opted to withdraw $150,000 from surplus to offset taxation and hold the tax rate steady at 18.5 mills.

Board members said that they were pleased to see the figure remain unchanged despite the fact that prices for municipal necessities such as asphalt and fuel oil are on the rise.

Tax bills have already been mailed to residents, Tax Assessor Laureen Bither said Thursday.

Councilors worked last September to decrease the tax rate from 26.5 mills to $18.50 per $1,000 of property value and stressed that frugality would be the key to sustaining the figure.

The board took significant steps to cut costs as it drafted the fiscal year 2006 budget, slashing money from the Police Department and delaying a number of capital projects before finalizing a “bare bones” budget in February.

In concert with frugality on the part of municipal officials, budget figures from SAD 29, the town’s school district, also helped ease the burden on local taxpayers.

The district, which also consists of the towns of Littleton, Hammond and Monticello, requested less money this year as part of the local share of its more than $10.7 million budget.

The local share to the four towns decreased by $91,953.