Vassalboro appraiser explains property tax scenarios

by Mary Grow

If I raise everyone’s property valuation by 20 percent, most Vassalboro taxpayers will see little if any tax increase, assessor Ellery Bane, of RJD Appraisal, told select board members and an interested audience at the June 22 select board meeting.

If I do not raise everyone’s property valuation as planned, many, probably most, taxpayers will see a tax increase, he continued.

Bane went on to explain the state standards and regulations that govern his work as assessor in Vassalboro and other Maine towns.

State assessors also value property state-wide, he said, and have a state valuation for each municipality. By law, the local assessor’s valuation must be within certain limits compared to the state’s, neither too much higher nor too much lower.

Because of steadily increasing home prices, property values are rising faster than he has ever seen before. Assessments need to keep pace.

The state already has a 2024 valuation for the Town of Vassalboro, Bane said. It is significantly higher than the valuation he will have, unless he implements the 20 percent increase – enough higher to trigger financial penalties for the town. For example, homestead and veterans’ exemptions will be lowered; Vassalboro’s taxes on the Summit gas pipeline and Central Maine Power Company’s electric line will be reduced; annual state school funding will be cut.

Bane estimated if he leaves valuations unchanged, Vassalboro stands to lose about $100,000 in revenue.

Tax bills are primarily determined by the amount needed to fund expenditures, as approved at the annual town meeting. Each individual property value is multiplied by the tax rate to determine how much each property-owner is asked to contribute.

Therefore if the valuation goes up, the tax rate can go down and still raise the needed total.

People whose properties are unchanged should see only the small increase corresponding to the overall 2023-24 budget increase – select board member Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr, estimated it at about four percent. People who have improved their properties may see a larger increase, just as they would have without a town-wide change.

Bane plans to give select board members a set of recommended tax rates in August, as usual, and select board members will set the rate. Tax bills usually go out late in August. By town meeting vote, the first quarterly payment is due Monday, Sept. 25.

The topic that drew most of the June 22 audience was also financial: the Vassalboro Sanitary District’s lack of money.

District officials Raymond Breton and Becky Goodrich explained that VSD has more than $3 million in loans it is repaying, mostly for the cost of hooking Vassalboro’s system into Waterville’s via Winslow. Two pump stations need repairs that could cost another million dollars or more. Winslow is increasing the rate it charges Vassalboro by 25 percent.

Also mentioned were the manhole cover changes, needed as the state Department of Transportation repaves Route 32, that were discussed earlier. Town Manager Aaron Miller said the estimated cost is $4,500 this year and more next year (see the June 1 issue of The Town Line, p. 3).

VSD expenses are being shared among about 200 North Vassalboro and East Vassalboro customers. Audience members quoted quarterly sewer bills ranging from $270 to $500; some people, they said, paid higher sewer bills than tax bills.

Miller, who met previously with VSD officials and customers, said the trustees had postponed a planned rate increase to October. He and Goodrich said other funding sources are being explored.

Residents’ proposal is that some of the money VSD needs come from Vassalboro property taxes. They do not expect taxpayers town-wide to foot their entire bills, just to reduce them.

The comparison, one man said, is school funding: people without children in local schools still support education funding. Granted, educating children benefits everyone; but the sewer system that helps protect water quality in Outlet Stream also benefits residents all over town, he said.

Select board members expressed sympathy and said they will consider the problem. An early step is information-gathering, finding out things like how other municipal sewer systems are financed and how high other towns’ residents’ sewer bills are.

In other business June 22, select board members elected Chris French the new board chairman, succeeding Barbara Redmond, and welcomed new member Michael C. Poulin.

Miller explained what he is doing to apply for a grant through the state-wide community resilience program. Select board members unanimously approved a proclamation that is part of the process.

By another unanimous vote, they approved reappointment of town committee members whose appointments would otherwise end on June 30, the last day of fiscal year 2022-23. The exception was the recreation committee, with whom Miller intended to meet; board members therefore postponed action.

They signed a quit-claim deed to the South Stanley Hill Road property sold to Mark Grenier (see the June 15 issue of The Town Line, p. 2) and accepted a request from the East Vassalboro Water Company to reimburse it from the proceeds of the sale for unpaid bills.

Following their usual custom, board members scheduled only one July and one August meeting, for July 13 and Aug. 10.