Tax Bills Delayed as Town Revalues Property
(Lamoine) — Don't expect your property tax bill until at least mid-September this year as the town performs what is called a factored revaluation. A team of appraisers from RJD Appraisal arrived in late June to begin work on the project that will establish more realistic property values town-wide.
Bob Duplisea, the company owner, says the tentative plan will have the initial values ready by early August. Property owners can expect to receive notices of what the new property value will be around August 15th. The appraisers will schedule hearings to be held the last week of August for people who might question the method used to determine the new value and whether the assessment is correct. Following the hearings the assessors will clean up any remaining issues and make the tax commitment around September 15th. Tax bills are to be paid in full by October 31st per town meeting vote.
The factorization process is extremely complex. It involves tracking the property sales prior to April 1, 2005 on the property tax maps to establish trends for different areas of the town. For instance, shore property sales have seen much higher increases from the town assessments than inland lots. When the last full revaluation was performed in 1993 a formula for property values was established for the many areas of town, and that formula will be revised based on the sales for the past 12-years. In the end, the valuation of the town will rise significantly, which will reduce the mill rate used to establish the individual parcel property tax.
The appraisal team that was working around town in late June and early July was measuring the new construction completed in the past year to accurately record on the property cards what exists on the lot on April 1st. With those measurements, the new formulas can be plugged in, and the final value determined.
The project will cost a total of $18,000 which was approved at town meeting two years ago from the revaluation fund, and carried over to this year. The factored revaluation is a much less expensive process than a full revaluation which involves visiting each property in town to measure and grade each building. The assessors have kept up with new construction, and the appraisal firm had reviewed 25% of the town over each of the past few years, so both feel comfortable the information is accurate. |
Roger Peppard, Kevin McCormick and Bob Duplisea of RJD Appraisal work on the new valuations |
Talkin' Trash Again
By Donna Theall
(Lamoine) — On Wednesday, September 14, 2005 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lamoine Town Hall, the Lamoine Conservation Commission will present “Trash Talk III – Reducing Costs by Increasing Recycling” with Victor Horton. Victor is the Executive Director of the Maine Resource Recovery Association and is responsible for marketing for MRRA participating communities.
Trash Talk III is the third in a series of ongoing discussions being held in Lamoine to address solid waste management and recycling issues, with a goal of exploring solutions and alternatives for managing solid waste and its associated cost.
MRRA has 112 direct members (including Lamoine) and over 200 indirect member communities since some members represent multiple towns/districts (i.e. Coastal Recycling has five or six communities). MRRA picks up material from 75 locations. Lamoine brings its recyclables to Bangor to be picked up by MRRA. In 2004, MRRA marketed more than 30,000 tons of recyclable materials from their members.
Trash Talk I was held in July, 2004 with Ken Smith and Al Sternfield who educated the LCC on current transfer station and recycling systems in town. Trash Talk II was held on March 16, 2005 with Bob Kates, who presented on recycling and waste management in Hancock County. |
Soggy Day Doesn't Deter Litter Cleanup
By Donna Theall
(Lamoine)-“Two-hundred fifty, two-hundred fifty one, two-hundred fifty, wait a minute! This is ridiculous, I'm not going to keep counting cigarette butts, there are so many!” Let's just say, it's about 350 butts per hour.” That's about how many cigarette butts you can expect one person to pick up during an hour of cleanup. If you multiply that by the number of volunteers who came out to assist with clean up, you get a rough idea of just how many cigarette butts are being thrown out on the highways and byways of Lamoine. Conservatively, volunteers picked up an estimated 3500 cigarette butts in just one day.
We don't know how many pounds of trash were picked up during the Second Annual Lamoine Town Cleanup - which was held on the first Saturday in May, a cold, rainy and windy day – but, we know a dedicated corps of volunteers (led by Georgia Munsell) showed up to clean up and make the day a resounding success! We thank all of the volunteers who gave their time, especially with weather that was less than cooperative.
If we could encourage those who throw trash and cigarette butts onto the streets of our town to dispose of it in a receptacle or an ashtray (depending on what you're discarding), we would even have more of a success and cleaner surroundings.
No matter, we know our dedicated volunteers will be there again to clean up next time, we just ask that you think twice before you toss! Stay tuned for details on a second cleanup that we are thinking about for September. |
Cleaning Up
Georgia Munsell, Cynthia Donaldson, Diane Sanderson and Lynda Tadema-Wielandt get their trash bags for cleanup day |
Committees Shelved
(Lamoine) — The work was complete, and there was no need to keep two committees active any longer. Lamoine's Selectmen officially deactivated the Public Works Study Committee and the Public Safety Study Committee in May, thanking all committee members for their service. The Public Works Committee determined that contractors should continue to do the road work in town, but felt land should be purchased for future needs. The town meeting rejected several land purchase options during the past year.
Voters also rejected the Public Safety Committee's recommendation for some more of a police presence in Lamoine, opting to rely on the Sheriff's Department and State Police. |
Memorial, Survey Move Forward
(Lamoine) — Lamoine's large long-range planning committee has proposed two ideas forward for consideration. A town memorial to veterans is the brainchild of committee member Reggie McDevitt. The committee met with Franklin's Fire Chief Bob Grindle who oversaw a similar project in that town. More details are expected in a few months.
The committee has also developed a questionnaire for town residents with a wide range of issues to be addressed. The committee feels if the survey is conducted, the town will have a better idea on what its priorities ought to be for controlling and responding to growth.
The committee has asked for a clear direction from the Board of Selectmen and will meet with the Selectmen on July 14th. One of the issues is committee membership. Originally at 24-members, attendance at meetings has waned in recent months. Selectmen Brett Jones has chaired the committee thus far. |
