JAY — The Board of Assessors voted Thursday to accept a tax abatement certification to the town’s tax collector as written for a total of $2.2 million in tax credit for Verso Androscoggin LLC.
It allows the town to ask for recognition this year that the full amount of the tax credit be factored into the town’s application with the state for sudden and severe loss of valuation. The application was filed with the state in March.
If the state approves the application, Jay would be eligible to receive more state funding for its portion of the Regional School Unit 73 budget, and possibly more in state revenue-sharing. The revenue would go directly to the school district to offset Jay’s tax assessment for this year.
The school district also serves Livermore and Livermore Falls residents.
The Jay board had already credited Verso with an $886,157 partial tax abatement it granted for the 2015 tax year when the second half of Verso’s taxes were due April 1. The assessors, which are also the selectpersons, had determined that the original tax was too high after Verso filed a tax abatement appeal of its valuation of its 2015 taxes.
The town filed its application with the state to have its reduced valuation recognized.
In April, Jay and Verso entered into a settlement agreement to resolve disputes over the 2013, 2014 and 2015 tax years. It called for Jay to give Verso a credit of $4 million over the next three tax years in six credits to settle the dispute. Verso had appealed the valuations for its property for those years, claiming it was valued too high.
As per the settlement, which was approved by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware on Wednesday, the Board of Assessors acknowledged Thursday the credit to be issued to Verso and further abated $1.33 million from 2015 taxes.
Jay will credit $666.667 to Verso’s October tax payment and $666,667 will be credited to its payment in April 2017.
When filing for sudden and severe consideration with the state assessor, the state assessor looks at valuation and the taxes lost due to the event, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said.
“When the Jay assessors granted the abatement of $886,157 and applied for sudden and severe consideration, the state tax assessor would calculate the lost valuation and revenues and then compute what would be our additional state subsidies we would be eligible for receiving,” she said. “After combining the previous $886,157 and the $1.3 million settlement agreement payment, we will request the state assessor to include the additional lost revenues in his formula with hopes of providing additional relief to the taxpayers of Jay.”
LaFreniere and the town’s assessing agent Paul Binette will meet Friday with representatives of the state’s Property Tax Division of the Maine Revenue Service, Binette told Jay assessors Thursday.
He also told them that Verso has withdrawn its appeals for all three tax years with the Maine Board of Property Tax Review.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
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