TURNER – The tax rate this year is expected to go down but valuations will be going up, officials learned Monday night. Selectmen expect to set this year’s tax commitment at a special meeting next week after receiving information from assessors.

“We are currently valuing, for tax purposes, real estate in Turner at approximately 82 percent of market value,” Town Manager Jim Catlin said. “We have been watching this happen for the last four or five years.”

To comply with state law, the town must certify accurate land valuations to the state. Based on real estate sales during the last three years until April of this year, the assessors’ agents will be recommending what is called a new factor for valuations.

“Factoring is really just a revaluation without someone coming to look at your house,” Selectman Jennifer Wadsworth explained. “The assessors are tweaking their schedules to more realistically reflect value.”

The factor, according to Catlin, is expected to be between 15 percent and 20 percent, which means that “across the board,” everyone’s property values will be increased by that factor. So a person with a home valued last year at $100,000 will have a value this year of $115,000, if the factor is 15 percent. When the total valuation is increased, the tax rate required to raise the money needed is lowered, he said.

The current tax rate is $17.40 per $1,000 of property value. If a factor of 15 percent is used, that rate will go down to $16.20; if 20 percent is used, the tax rate will be in the $15 range, Catlin said.

Turner currently has the highest median prices for land and housing in Androscoggin County, according to statistics from the state.

The assessors’ agents will meet with town officials at 7 p.m. Aug. 26 at the town office. They expect to set the tax commitment at that time.

In other business, selectmen voted unanimously to support a resolution of intent to be sent to the state concerning property tax relief. They instructed Catlin to contact the town managers of Greene and Leeds, hoping that a joint letter from the towns that make up SAD 52 could be sent. They believe a joint resolution of intent will carry more weight than individual letters from the three towns.

The letters are being collected across the state, and Catlin said that more than 80 have been submitted. They specify that if the state funds education at 55 percent, as voted statewide in June, that any savings to the towns will be used to provide property tax relief.

Selectmen took the following actions on other business items:

• Instructed Catlin to get prices for motion-activated video cameras following two break-ins at the town’s transfer station during which metal was taken from the recycling area. To get prices on a hardened lock for the gate, which was broken during the last incident and to investigate the ATV riders that have been entering the property and knocking down gas vents that are part of the closed landfill area.

• To inform the Nezinscot Dam Committee that a state inspection will be scheduled as soon as the water subsides to plan for any repairs or upgrades that may be needed.

• Approved a liquor license for the Northland Steak House, owned by Jeff Timberlake.