Vassalboro select board recommends setting tax rate at 11.74 mils

Left to right, select board member Chris French, select board chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico Jr., and recipient William Browne. William “Bill” Browne is the recipient of Vassalboro’s 2025 Spirit of America award, presented at the Aug. 12 select board meeting. Select board chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr, praised Browne for his many services to the town, notably representing it in the Maine legislature for four terms and serving on the town budget committee from 1982 to the present. Browne replied that he enjoys living in “a great town with all kinds of hard workers.” (contributed photo)

by Mary Grow

The two Vassalboro select board members present at the Aug. 12 meeting (Michael Poulin was absent) have recommended setting the town’s 2025-26 tax rate at 11.74 mils, or $11.74 for each $1,000 of property valuation. The figure is the middle one of three options recommended by the town’s assessor, who will now set the rate as recommended, Town Manager Aaron Miller said.

The manager said the new rate is a decrease of 1.59 mils ($1.59 per $1,000) from the 2024-25 rate, 13.33 mils.

Property-owners should not expect lower bills. A town-wide 30 percent increase in valuation means everyone’s property value has increased, offsetting the effect of the lower rate; and voter-approved town spending is up.

“Now we can start getting tax bills out,” Miller said.

By town meeting vote, the first quarterly payment is due at the town office by the close of business Monday, Sept. 29. On Mondays, the Vassalboro town office closes at 3:30 p.m.

Much of the rest of the Aug. 12 meeting was spent discussing questions board members might ask voters to answer on a Nov. 4 local ballot. Board chairman Frederick “Rick” Denico, Jr., and member Chris French postponed final decisions, needing more information, Poulin’s views or both.

Their next regular meeting is scheduled for Sept. 4. Miller has said repeatedly any questions for the Nov. 4 ballot need to be ready to send to the town clerk by the end of that meeting.

Possible questions include:

— A proposal to increase the number of select board members from three to five.
— An addition to the town’s Budget Committee Ordinance.
— Revisions to the town’s TIF (Tax Increment Financing) document.
— A request for permission to use money from the town’s surplus account, if needed, to pay auditors’ bills.

Miller said the audit for fiscal year 2023-24 (ended June 30, 2024) will be delivered at the Sept. 18 select board meeting, which he expects the auditor to attend. The FY 2024-25 audit is expected by Dec. 1, so figures will be available early in 2026, before 2026-27 budget planning.

In other business Aug. 12, Denico and French acted on half a dozen more appointments (reappointments) to town boards and committees, left over from their July 17 meeting.

Denico said he is looking for volunteers for a resurrected CAPEX (capital expenditures) committee. Interested residents, especially those with a business or financial background, are invited to get in touch with him or with the town office.

Urgently needed, French said, are volunteers for the Vassalboro Sanitary District board of trustees, preferably residents of the East and North Vassalboro areas served by the VSD. Currently, the board has too few members to act.

The town website, Vassalboro.net, invites interested volunteers to contact Lisa Miller, at aghrawolf@yahoo.com; or to email the town manager, at amiller@vassalboro.net. (Aaron Miller says he and Lisa Miller are not related.)

One of the appointments board members approved is Michael Phelps as chairman of the town recreation committee. Miller said Phelps’ job includes overseeing the to-be-hired part-time recreation director.

There are more than a dozen applicants for the job, the manager said. He expects Phelps and/or another recreation committee member to help with interviews, and anticipates a decision by September.

The Vassalboro town office will be closed Monday, Sept. 1, for the Labor Day holiday. The Sept. 4 select board meeting is scheduled for 6:30 p.m., in the town office meeting room.