FARMINGTON — The 2023 tax rate is going up, but the exact amount was not known Tuesday evening, Oct. 10.
In a four to one vote, selectmen chose slightly different figures to determine the tax rate at their meeting, so the amount taxpayers will pay per $1,000 in valuation had to be recalculated.
Selectmen Matthew Smith, Byron Staples, Joshua Bell and Stephan Bunker were in favor of putting $150,000 into the Downtown TIF [Tax Increment Financing] and using $30,000 for overlay while Dennis O’Neil was opposed.
In June the board voted to contract with Dirigo Assessing Group of Sidney to perform work needed to complete the tax commitment after no applicants were received for the vacant assessor position. Tuesday the firm’s Nichole Stenberg and Justin Poirier shared four scenarios for determining the tax rate with the board.
Two components in the determination are the amount of money allocated for the Downtown TIF District and the amount of overlay to make available for abatements.
The four options were:
• $0 for the TIF, $40,309.64 for overlay, giving a mil [tax] rate of $19.66 per $1,000 property valuation.
• $75,000 for the TIF, $38,453.22 for the overlay, $19.79 per $1,000 valuation.
• $150,000 for the TIF, $41,916.85 overlay, mil rate of $19.93 per $1,000 valuation.
• $179,000 for the TIF, $41,257.08 overlay, mil rate of $19.98 per $1,000 valuation.
Last year the board also used different numbers than those provided, voting to go with $150,000 for the TIF and an overlay of $40,000. The overlay suggested ranged from about $61,000 to about $64,000. The three scenarios provided would have resulted in a mil or tax rate between $17.79 and $18.09. The actual rate was $18 per $1,000 in valuation.
Stenberg said the maximum amount that could be put in the TIF was $179,000.
She noted much of the decrease in property value this year came from the Sandy River Farms solar farm, how that was going to be taxed based on the depreciation agreed upon. According to a spreadsheet shared last year, the taxable value of the farm was about $71.6 million last year and $64 million this year.
Bell noted the board had earmarked $200,00 from the TIF for the Sandy River Bridge project, had approved $23,000 for other projects at the last meeting. There is $198,000 in the TIF now, he said.
Trails, signage and some other small things might be among future projects, Bell stated. “I know the Downtown TIF Committee would like to have more money to build it up,” he said. “I don’t know if we need the full $179,000.”
Smith said he liked the $150,000 mark, it would give a little cushion in case a project does come up. There would be more construction, he noted.
When asked about the undesignated fund balance, Stephen Eldridge, interim town manager, said there was just under $4 million in it last year, $3.6 million Tuesday. “You still have a healthy balance,” he noted.
The amount used for abatements last year wasn’t known.
Bell questioned the need for overlay as money for abatements can come from the undesignated fund balance. Any overlay not used goes into that balance. Why are we taxing people to put it in the undesignated fund balance, he asked.
When asked what other towns do, Eldridge said it was all over the place with some having policies to maintain their fund balance, others have spent their balance. Money from that account is used to get the town through until taxes come in, he added.
Eldridge works for Farmington on Tuesdays and Thursdays. An attempt to reach Dirigo Assessing Group Wednesday to obtain the new tax rate was unsuccessful.
In other business, Police Chief Kenneth Charles introduced new police officer Ariana Bacon.
She is from the Skowhegan area. Charles met her while he was on staff at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy and she was a student from the Lewiston Police Department.
“She really impressed me at the time as a real solid performer,” he said. “She is really bright, intelligent, a great team player. Those are attributes that don’t necessarily rise to the top for everyone so I was very excited to see her application come across my desk.”
Bacon was an officer about three years in Lewiston, got out of law enforcement for a time, moved back to the area, Charles stated.
“I come from a family of first responders,” Bacon said. “My dad is a medic, my mom is a nurse. One of my brothers is a medic and fireman.”
A graduate of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, with a bachelors degree in criminal justice, Bacon said she is excited to be working in Farmington.
She started Oct. 2.
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