WATERFORD – In a 38 to 28 vote, residents at town meeting Saturday advised selectmen that they want the illegal practice of placing a 25 percent surcharge on commercial properties stopped.

Nearly to 150 people gathered at the Waterford Fire Station to act on the 94-article warrant that included funds to approve a $1.1 million town budget. Town Moderator Sawin Millett advised voters that the town has $700,000 on the books in the surplus account, but of that amount $200,000 is in unpaid taxes so only $500,000 was available for town meeting use.

Topping the warrant was the nonbinding request to discontinue the practice of assessing a 25-percent surcharge on properties used for commercial purposes.

“It is illegal,” conceded Selectman William “Whizzer” Wheeler in his last meeting as a selectman. “It (the assessment) has to represent fair market value. But years ago, the town took the position they will continue to be illegal in the eyes of the constitution so we can entice people to keep their land rather than break it up to development.”

The practice brings in $17,000 in tax revenue a year. Although Selectman David Marston made a motion to repeal the tax at a January selectmen’s meeting, his two fellow selectmen failed to second the motion and no action was taken. The board has been informed by county commissioners and others that the tax is unconstitutional according to the Maine Constitution.

Ricki Hall, co-owner of Bear Mountain Inn on Route 35, a proponent of the article, said the practice was unevenly applied to properties. “This is not a property tax; this is a use tax. It’s an excessive burden on some businesses,” Hall said, adding that she objected to the 25 percent blanket assessment, not the fact that businesses were taxed differently than residential properties.

“There isn’t any doubt that probably it is an inappropriate way to tax,” Wheeler said. “It was in lieu of getting a special assessor in here.”

He said if the method of assessment were changed, it would mean a readjustment of the tax base in town. “If we get into that, it costs a lot of money and nearly all the companies are booked out three years plus,” said Wheeler of the limited number of assessing companies available to revalue to the town.

In other action, voters disagreed as to whether they should accept a private road. Saunders Road resident David Yates argued that since residents pay taxes to the town they should receive the same services as others living along public roads. But Selectman Norman Rust, while sympathetic to the request, said it would set a precedent that he was not willing to pay for.

The majority of voters agreed that they wanted to see a cost analysis of what it would cost to provide service, such as snowplowing, to the road, and the plan was shot down.

Voters OK’d a request to spend $200,000 from the surplus fund to purchase a new fire truck. Fire Department officials said the plan is to take two older engines off the road and replace them with a truck that can use updated firefighting technology. Instead of a truck that pumps only 1,200 gallons of water, the new truck would hold 10,000 gallons of compressed foam. The move to compressed foam might hold a fire at bay for as long as 15 to 20 additional minutes, allowing mutual aid to arrive and assist the four men currently on the department, said officials.

In other action, voters agree to fund:

– 130,000 to repair roads and bridges

– $150,000 for the resurfacing, surfacing or tarring of Waterford roads

– $137,00 for the care of winter roads

– $144,500 for the use and maintenance of the transfer station.

Voters also agreed to appoint a five-member commission to study the future form of town government in Waterford.