Taxpayers will see at least a 6 percent decrease in their property taxes when the bills are mailed in mid-September.

Selectmen’s secretary Sheryl Briggs said the board set the tax rate at $29 per $1,000 valuation, down from $30.80 last year. That figure may be reduced more when the board meets Sept. 10.

The reduction is largely due to the new businesses and the developments being built in town, Briggs said.

A public hearing has been set for 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 11, to hear comments on a proposed water rate hike averaging about 13 percent.

According to the Board of Trustees for the Mexico Water District, residents have not had a rate increase in 11 years. Nearly $1.5 million has been invested in the system, largely from Community Development block grants. During each of the past two years, the district has lost about $15,000.

The new rate would go into effect Dec. 31.

– Eileen Adams
Gilead: Voters mull firetruck purchase

Residents will gather at 7 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, at the Town Hall to decide whether to extend winter maintenance for the Bear Mountain Road and the Mount Tumbledown Road of the Androscoggin Valley Views housing development.

They will also decide whether to spend up to $210,000 for the purchase of a new firetruck.

Town officials are recommending that voters accept a grant of about $73,500 from Community Rural Development toward the truck purchase. The remaining $136,500 would be financed over 10 years at an interest rate of up to 4.25 percent.

– Eileen Adams

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