Other towns, including Cooper and Centerville, have inquired about shutting down.

AUGUSTA (AP) – Residents from Atkinson asked state lawmakers Wednesday if the tiny Piscataquis County town can put itself out of business, explaining that the tax burden is too high for local taxpayers.

The plea by the town of about 320 people to deorganize is seen as part of a pattern, and if approved, would give Maine’s Unorganized Territory tax district one of its most heavily populated townships, state officials say.

Richard Moreau of the state Education Department said inquiries about deorganization have come from other towns that include Cooper and Centerville in Washington County.

“We’ve got this steamroller effect under way,” Moreau, director of state schools for the Unorganized Territory, told the State and Local Government Committee.

Selectman Dave Kinney said Atkinson, which was incorporated on Feb. 12, 1819, has three major expenses: roads, county taxes and schools. There is no police or fire department, and the local school that children used to attend is now closed.

But with 15,000 acres – well over half of the town’s land – getting tax exemptions in some form, the tax burden shifts to the remaining property owners, Kinney said.

“The town of Atkinson is in trouble,” the bill’s sponsor, Republican Rep. James Annis of neighboring Dover-Foxcroft, told the committee. Passage of his bill would set the stage for a local referendum, which would need approval by a two-thirds majority.

A similar bill was approved two years ago, but was narrowly defeated in the local vote, said its sponsor, Senate Minority Leader Paul Davis, R-Sangerville.

Most residents of Atkinson earn less than $25,000 a year, said Amy Guyotte, who lives in town. The property tax rate of $19 per $1,000 valuation is steep, she told the committee, and her home insurance rates have doubled since the town has no fire department.

Dairy farmer Pete Patten said his property taxes, now $13,000 a year, would drop by half if the town deorganizes.

“Taxes are the issue,” said Patten.

Other issues also come into play.

If Atkinson closes down, residents have indicated they want their children to transfer from School Administrative District 41 to SAD 68.

District 41, which also includes Brownville, Lagrange, Lakeview Plantation and Milo, says the loss of about 50 Atkinson students represents a major financial blow. And Milo officials say the loss of Atkinson students translates into a 3 mil increase in a town with one of Maine’s highest tax rates.

The Baldacci administration opposes the bill, saying deorganization would add about $400,000 to the Unorganized Territory school budget.

While Atkinson residents’ taxes would likely drop after the town deorganized, amounts paid by every other taxpayer in the Unorganized Territory would rise, said Doreen Sheive, the territory’s fiscal administrator.

Committee members, while listening politely to pleas of Atkinson residents, also appeared sympathetic to the school district that would lose out financially.

Without voting on the measure, the committee indicated a willingness to take the matter further if Atkinson residents agree to keep their children in SAD 41.

—

On the Net:

Town of Atkinson: http://www.trcmaine.org/community/atkinson.htm

AP-ES-01-21-04 1717EST