MEXICO – Selectmen on Wednesday narrowly voted to discuss the town manager evaluation form with a lawyer before conducting the annual assessment.

They also heard a further explanation of the reasons property owners’ tax bills are higher despite a slightly lower tax rate.

Board Chairman Arthur Bordeau requested permission to contact the Maine Municipal Association or the town’s lawyer for clarification of some of the evaluation forms’ details and to seek guidelines on conducting the evaluation.

Selectmen Bordeau, Monique Aniel and Barbara Laramee voted for the authorization. Selectmen Reggie Arsenault and Richard Philbrick opposed the motion.

The request surprised Town Manager Joseph Derouche.

“At the last meeting, I brought up another form and you said the current one was good enough,” he said.

Bordeau said he wasn’t sure that was the case, but declined to provide any reasons for wanting the current form re-evaluated, adding that he wanted a review by counsel to prevent any possible legal problems.

Arsenault will accompany Bordeau to the meeting with counsel.

“It’s the same form as last year. Why do we need a lawyer?” questioned Arsenault.

Once the discussion has been completed, Bordeau said a special selectmen’s meeting may be called to discuss the lawyer’s response. Derouche’s evaluation will then be conducted.

Several selectmen have received calls from residents questioning their tax bills since the recently set tax rate declined from $28.80 per $1,000 to $28.50 per $1,000. Although the tax rate was lower, the bottom-line tax bill was higher. That resulted from the board’s decision to increase the value of all properties by 10 percent.

Derouche said that move was made to partially compensate for the higher state valuation of the town. And since the rate was set, he said the town’s valuation has gone up another $3 million, to more than $86 million, largely because properties were selling at much higher prices than in the past. The town’s own valuation had been set $73 million.

A plan for a townwide property valuation, possibly to be conducted next year, is expected to be presented to the board at its Oct. 27 meeting.

Derouche said such a difference in town and state valuations could result in a loss of veteran’s and homestead exemptions, and the tree growth reimbursement.

Had selectmen raised the tax rate to meet the town’s municipal, school and county obligations, rather than raise property values by 10 percent, the tax rate would have been $31.50 per $1,000 valuation.