Portsmouth’s property tax rate will drop in fiscal year 2012, according to city manager John Bohenko. The N.H. Department of Revenue Administration recently approved the rate at $17.27 per $1,000 valuation, 14 cents below last year’s rate.

The city must raise approximately $67 million through property taxes to fund its current budget. The total operating budget for the fiscal year that began July 1 is $86.4 million. The remainder will be covered by other revenue sources.

Finance director Judie Belanger attributed the lower rate to a combination of reduced expenditures, increased parking revenues, and unexpected growth in the value of commercial and industrial properties.

The newly approved rate will be reflected in tax bills mailed this month. Half of the taxes are due 30 days after the mailing date, with the second half due on June 1, 2012. The city will provide an online tax calculator so that residents can estimate how much they’ll owe, available at www.cityofportsmouth.com.

According to Mayor Tom Ferrini, the average value of a single-family home in Portsmouth is $341,300, which means the 14-cent difference will translate into about $50 in savings for the average homeowner.

The tax rate dropped by an even greater margin in Greenland, where the Department of Revenue Administration just approved a rate of $13.75 per $1,000 valuation. That’s a 31-cent drop from last year, when the rate was $14.06.

Those numbers present a sharp contrast to Dover, where the FY 2012 tax rate has been set at $25.12, an increase of $1.37 over FY 2011.