In the past two weeks since people received notices about the recent citywide revaluation, I have received questions and heard concerns about what this will mean for homeowners. I want to take this opportunity to answer some of those questions and to let people know what the next steps are.

First, I want people to know that the Auburn City Council’s priority is always to keep taxes and spending down, and that continues to be our priority.

We do not raise taxes any higher than necessary to fund basic city services. Because of state tax policy, property taxes in Maine are high. The Auburn City Council has a track record of trying to keep tax increases to a minimum, while allowing for modest budget increases.

For the past 10 years, the combined city and school budget has increased about 3 percent annually. The average annual increase in the property tax rate during the past decade has been 1.6 percent.

This year, due to the combination of budget cuts and the increase in the homestead exemption, most Auburn homeowners’ property tax bills were the same or less than last year. The council and I are committed to working for property tax relief.

Some people have asked why the city sent out the revaluation notices now and why we used a sample tax rate. The city sent out the revaluation notices now because we wanted to make sure people had sufficient time to review their new value and understand it, and the council wanted to have this time to work with the citizens as we consider all options.

The council debated whether to use a sample tax rate on the revaluation notice, but we decided unanimously to include a sample tax rate because we thought people deserved to be informed about how a change in their property value could effect their taxes.

Before we sent the revaluation notices, people told us that they were anxious to know what the value on their home would be, but they quickly said that what they cared most about was what their tax bill might be. We thought it was important to provide that information.

Last June when the budget was passed, the council and the school committee agreed to start work on the budget much sooner due to our concern about the potential impact the revaluation could have. It is our hope that citizens will be involved in learning about the municipal and school budgets, and participate in deciding where citizens want their property tax dollars to go.

A lot of work needs to be done between now and when the budget is completed in June. Based on the calls and contacts I have had from people so far, I feel certain that we will have good citizen participation in the budget process this year.

The city council and I welcome that involvement. We want to hear from people regarding budget priorities. During the months ahead, we will be working to inform people about the budget process and what services property taxes fund. We also will keep the community updated on our progress as we head toward completing the budget and setting the tax bill.

All of our meetings and workshops are open to the public. We will begin holding budget workshops that will provide an overview of all departments and discuss how tax funds are used. We encourage people to attend these workshops and meetings. We know people are busy, so if you cannot attend council meetings and workshops, you can keep up to date on our discussions by watching our meetings live on Great Falls TV (channel 7 Adelphia or channel 1 Oxford Networks). The meetings are replayed at 7 p.m. Thursdays.

In addition, we will be holding neighborhood meetings throughout the year. If you belong to a club or organization and you would like to host such a meeting, please let us know.

As the council and I have heard from people discussing their revaluation and taxes, we realize that there are a lot of misconceptions about the budget, taxes and city government.

We want everyone to have direct access to complete and accurate information. We will cover those topics at upcoming council meetings and workshops. Residents can also get up-to-date information on the city’s Web site: www.auburnmaine.gov.

If you have questions about the budget, services or anything else happening in the city, send an e-mail: [email protected].

If you have suggestions for saving money, improving services or other budget ideas, call us or send an e-mail: [email protected]

I want residents to know that the council and I understand many people are concerned, angry and upset about property taxes. We have worked to keep taxes down because we know our community is comprised of people of different abilities to pay. It is not fair that property taxes are based on a person’s home value, which has little relationship to their ability to afford their taxes.

We care about our community and we hope you will work with us in the coming months to develop a budget that delivers basic services the community expects within a tax bill people can afford.

Norm Guay is the mayor of Auburn.