POLAND – Selectmen on Tuesday tabled a vote on raising all town fees after residents questioned the need and fairness of some levies.

Roughly 30 people attended the hearing, many there to speak about this issue.

The proposal would raise most town fees by 50 percent. Code Enforcement Officer Arthur Dunlap said the increase was generally a “50 percent increase across the board.”

One fee proposal that more controversial than others was the building permit fee for new residences, up from $25 to $500.

Many residents felt the increase was unfair and wanted to know the reason.

Larry Moreau of the Planning Board said it was a way for the town to recoup some of the costs incurred with residential development, such as school, fire and rescue, general assistance and other services. Other towns have impact fees for the same reason.

“It’s a way of easing the tax burden,” he said. “If you look at other towns and what they’re charging for impact fees, $500 is a relative bargain.”

Some officials said the $500 figure was arrived at by comparing it to other towns, and at least one person thought it was a somewhat random number.

Bruce Udall of the Planning Board, said, “It was just kind of pulled out of a hat. … There wasn’t a lot of thought put into why.”

Another fee that drew criticism was for timber harvesting.

Poland resident Fred Huntress said the fee was unwarranted since the town incurs no costs when a resident decides to harvest timber.

“I don’t see any cost to the town, so I don’t know why there needs to be a fee,” he said.

Selectman Lionel Ferland felt the same, and suggested that this fee be deleted from the proposed schedule.

There was also concern about the town’s spending practices.

“We overspend in this town for everything,” Udall said. “We need to cut back.”

His comment drew applause from the crowd.

When the hearing ended, Selectman Wendy Sanborn made the motion to table a vote on the proposal until “we clean it up and do our homework.”

The vote was 4-0 by her, Ferland, Reginald Jordan and Vice Chairman Erland Torrey. Board Chairwoman Sandra Knowles was absent.