JAY — Selectpersons voted unanimously Tuesday to delay the property revaluation, which was supposed to begin this month and be completed next year.
The decision was in light of Pixelle Speciality Solutions’ announcement in September it was closing its paper mill in early 2023. About 230 employees are expected to lose their jobs.
If the house and building values are increased and the mill’s value decreases, it would put more burden on the other taxpayers, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said Wednesday.
The town plans to apply for relief for the fifth time to the Maine Sudden and Severe Disruption of Valuation program because of the mill’s decreased value. The state has approved it four times previously, including in February due to downsizing or changes at the Androscoggin Mill.
If approved, the town can expect more state-revenue sharing, lower Franklin County taxes, and higher funding for education.
By delaying the equalization revaluation, it will give the town’s valuation a chance to stabilize.
“This allows Shiloh and I to recover from this,”
town assessing agent Paul Binette of John E. O’Donnel & Associates in New Gloucester, told selectpersons. We can do the equalization on a more even playing field.”
If a town loses 2% or more of its valuation from a single taxpayer, the town can apply to the state to have an immediate reduction in its valuation, Binette said.
The revaluation will be postponed three years, possibly only two.
The town has to wait to file its application for Sudden and Severe Disruption of Valuation until after tax commitment in the fall of 2023.
“We have to wait until we commit on the April 1 value of the mill. For instance, if they close on March 31 then on April 1 there will be a reduction in the mill and town value. When we commit taxes in the fall it will be based on that reduced value. After that, we can submit for sudden and severe again,” LaFreniere said.
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