OTISFIELD – Residents at a public hearing Wednesday night registered their opposition to changing the fiscal year, changing the number of annual tax bills and changing the way town officials are chosen. Some also learned selectmen have done away with the discount for early tax payments.
More than 50 people crowded into the Otisfield town office and more stood in the hallway for hearings on switching the January-through-December fiscal year to a July-through-June year and having selectmen appoint the clerk, treasurer and road commissioner instead of voters electing them.
Selectmen propose changing to two property tax bills annually if the fiscal year is changed. Half of the bill would be due in April and the rest in October.
A resident asked how the town’s 3 percent discount on early payments would be affected by multiple tax payments.
The chairman of the Board of Selectman, Mark Cyr, said that since the March town meeting, the town no longer offers a discount on early payments.
A number of people asked how the change had been made without residents’ voting on it.
“We didn’t put it on the warrant,” Cyr responded, and therefore since a decision was required the board used its authority to not give a discount this year.
He ended a barrage of comments and objections by asking that anyone who wished to discuss the issue attend the selectmen’s meeting after the hearings.
Ethel Turner, owner of The Cape vacation cottages on Thompson Lake, asked how owners of seasonal businesses could pay half of their tax bill in the spring when they get their income in the fall.
Finance Committee Chairwoman Joanie Jacobs advised that she could pay her entire bill in October, and “foreclosure cannot happen until after the second payment is missed.”
The committee recommends changing the fiscal year and sending out two tax bills each year.
Selectman Lenny Adler assured residents that although voter approval was not required for the change to a fiscal year, “We are putting it before the people, and I’m sure if the straw vote says we’re not going to do it, we’re not going to do it.”
A straw vote was not taken Wednesday.
Cyr moved on to the issue of changing from elected to appointed officials. He said the town has no recall ordinance and no control over officials once they’re elected.
“The town of Otisfield is a business,” Adler said. “We are running a $2 million a year business, and nobody’s in charge. What happens if we elect a town clerk who says, I’m only going to work 10 hours a week?’ There is no voter control.”
A resident asked why the issue was being presented before the Government Study Committee has presented its findings.
Selectmen agreed to wait for the committee’s report.
The proposal on appointing officials was removed from the warrant of a tentative November special town meeting, and will likely be added to the warrant of the annual town meeting in March.
A straw vote on the fiscal year and election issue was scheduled for the November meeting, but it is uncertain whether that meeting will still be held.
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