RUMFORD — Selectmen have scheduled a special board meeting Tuesday, April 9, to consider a tax relief petition introduced Thursday night.
The meeting will be held at 4 p.m. in Rumford Falls Auditorium.
The Concerned Rumford Taxpayers Group petition seeks to create an ordinance to cap the property tax levy at $17.5 for each fiscal year, starting July 1, 2013. The current tax rate is $24.25 per $1,000 of valuation.
During the public comment section of the board’s regular meeting on Thursday, proponents of the petition gave it to selectmen, who accepted it, Town Manager Carlo Puiia said late Friday afternoon.
According to Rumford’s Charter, the board has five days to decide a course of action. Puiia said selectmen on Tuesday will consider whether or not the petition evokes emergency status that allows them to grant its request for a special town meeting.
If they decide against that, the petitioners must draft another petition and get signatures to bypass selectmen and force a special town meeting. That second petition would need 454 signatures of Rumford residents, Puiia said.
Currently, town attorney Jennifer Kreckel is reviewing the tax relief petition’s language.
In other business Thursday night, selectmen:
* Scheduled a meeting to discuss regionalization with Mexico selectmen at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 17, downstairs at the Mexico Town Hall.
* Approved an agreement with the Maine Department of Transportation, allowing its contractor to haul heavy equipment on Route 232 to reconstruct the road.
* Did not approve a bid for a cured-in-place-pipe lining project for sewer pipes under Prospect Avenue.
Puiia said there is money in reserve to do the sewer pipe work. However, budget concerns, angst about whether the paper mill will close or not, and a desire to resurface the road, were all considered prior to deciding against the pipe-lining project.
Following an executive session for labor negotiation with fire Chief Bob Chase, selectmen unanimously approved the Fire Department contract, Puiia said.
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