JAY — Verso Androscoggin LLC has granted selectpersons a second extension on the company’s request for a tax abatement of $469 million in valuation for the April 1, 2013, assessment. The board has until Dec. 18 to make a decision, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said Tuesday.
LaFreniere, Paul Binette, the town’s assessing agent and the town’s attorney had previously met with Verso officials and their attorney and will meet again Dec. 11, she said.
Verso filed the abatement request in February, stating the town had overvalued the Androscoggin Mill and its personal property. The town’s assessed value of the mill and property for 2013-14 is $929 million, consisting of approximately $140.4 million in real estate and $788.5 million in personal property.
The company believes the property should be valued at $460 million.
Verso granted an initial extension in March to selectpersons until Dec. 1 to act on the company’s request.
Under state law, selectpersons have 60 days from the date a tax abatement application is filed to act on it. If a board does not act within that time, it is considered to be denied.
The understanding under the March 21 extension was that in order to get the extension, the town would obtain, at its own expense, an independent professional appraisal by a qualified appraiser of the Verso facilities as of April 1, 2013.
The town had a revaluation conducted, which resulted in the town’s 2014 assessment of Verso Paper Corp.’s paper mill and property decreasing from $815.4 million of taxable value to about $592 million.
The lower valuation contributed to the selectpersons’ decision to set the tax rate at $15.75 per $1,000 of value in August for 2014-15. The amount reflected an increase of $1.75 per $1,000.
dperry@sunjournal.com
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