ALBANY TOWNSHIP — Uproar over a recent tax hike appears to have shifted into calls for residents to be more involved in how Oxford County government spends money.
At a meeting hosted by the Albany Improvement Association on Monday evening, residents gathered to hear how the taxes for the past fiscal year have been used complete capital improvement projects.
According to association President Bob O’Brien, a longtime Albany resident, lawyer and unofficial township-county liaison Jeffrey Rosenblatt of Albany made the presentation after several meetings with county administration.
“The more we understand about where the money is going, the more it helped us swallow that tax increase,” O’Brien said in a phone interview Monday.
Attempts to reach Rosenblatt were unsuccessful.
Albany Township, which has 400 residents, is an unincorporated territory under the larger umbrella of the unorganized territories. Its affairs are partly administered by county government officials in Paris.
The other populated townships in the county are Milton and Mason.
The county budget for the unorganized territories rose 35 percent for fiscal year 2015, and taxes rose 17 percent for property owners in Albany Township. The tax rate went from $8.49 per thousand dollars of assessed value to $9.94.
Spending in Albany is about half of the total budget for the county’s unorganized territory.
The county said the additional funding was required to bring roads and bridges long neglected up to scratch. Over a long period, the county had budgeted $200,000 each year for maintenance; in one year it increased over $300,000, a level county officials said is realistic to address the rate of deterioration.
The increase shocked some residents when they opened their bills last summer. Residents called, emailed and attended County Commission meetings to discuss the issue. County officials held a meeting to explain the increases with residents in October.
Monday evening’s gathering comes after meetings between Rosenblatt and county government officials, who treated his request for a detailed account of spending and the reasoning behind it as the issuance of Freedom of Access Act request.
Rosenblatt eventually said he walked away from the meetings saying the county administration had operated in good faith.
The increased communication between the county and Albany gave commissioners pause to consider whether the township should be forced to cover the administrative expenses incurred for governing their affairs. Estimates for the associated costs suggest taxes would double.
County Administrator Scott Cole previously said that many counties have two employees solely dedicated to overseeing the unorganized territories.
Oxford County will add its first clerical position for that purpose this year.
No one was interested in changing Albany’s township status, O’Brien said.
“From my point of view, that issue is off the table. I don’t know where the commissioners stand on it, but I think the town’s people will prefer to stay a township,” he said.
O’Brien said residents are eager to have more of a voice in budgetary affairs, with the hope of adding a seat on the Budget Committee for a resident from Albany.
According to Cole, Maine statute already requires that commissioners and county budget committees receive input from residents on the budget at a public hearing before it can be formally adopted.
Additionally, commissioners will hold informal meetings as needed with Albany residents.
“Commissioners are not likely to go any further with reincorporation at this time,” Cole said.
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