Clinton Selectmen vote at special meeting to drop tax rate by 23%

CLINTON — The Board of Selectmen voted Tuesday to cut the property tax rate by 23% following a recent revaluation of the town.

The board held a special meeting to discuss the tax rate because the town’s assessor’s agent, Garnett Robinson, is leaving for vacation soon. The new 2021-22 fiscal year rate — a decrease of $4.60 — will be $15.10 per $1,000 of property valuation.

The drop was possible because of the town revaluation — the first in 15 years. The revaluation found a lot of new value on various properties, Robinson said, meaning that the board can drop the tax rate without losing income.

The $15.10 rate will also generate $54,661 for overlay, which is an emergency contingency account controlled by the Board of Selectmen. The new rate will also bring the town’s tax commitment to $3,698,692 — that includes the municipal budget, county taxes, education and overlay.

In doing his calculations, Robinson said that he uses three years’ worth of sales, which is especially important this year as he has seen several high-priced sales in Clinton that don’t match up with longer term averages for sales.

“I also believe it could be a bubble because the people that are buying now are people that aren’t your typical buyers,” Robinson said.

Robinson offered the board a range of options for the tax rate, but said he would not recommend being at the very top or very bottom of it. Robinson’s recommendation was the $15.10 rate the board approved.

The only other item on the agenda for the meeting was final approval of the contract with Dirigo Engineering for the True Road project. The board approved $20,000 in funding for the contract last week, and formally signed the contract Tuesday.

Selectmen will meet Tuesday, Aug. 10, at 6:30 p.m. for their regular meeting. The agenda for that meeting currently includes a discussion about the American Rescue Plan, the Public Safety Building Advisory Committee and comprehensive plan implementation.