LIVERMORE FALLS — Selectmen will hold a special meeting Wednesday to review options to reduce a tax commitment which could raise the tax rate nearly $4 per $1,000 valuation. The current rate is $18.80.

Town Manager Jim Chaousis said he has put together a diverse package of options for selectmen to consider at 5:30 p.m. Aug. 12 at the town office. Those options include adjusting revenues, borrowing money from surplus, reducing the Wausau mill personal property valuation and adjusting the budgetary, Chaousis said Monday.

The town’s assessing agent, Bill Van Tuinen, recommended Aug. 3 that the 2009-10 tax rate be set at $22.60. He reviewed options with the board that ranged from $22.38 to $23.49. He also suggested to selectmen, in their assessors’ role, give the Wausau Paper Mill a $6 million valuation decrease due to a paper machine that went down permanently in late December 2009.

There is a difference between a machine that is producing and one that has been abandoned in place in case a buyer for the mill is found. The mill shut down its second machine as of June 1 and ceased operations prior to July 1. The company has vowed not to sell the mill or paper machines to a direct competitor.

If the board doesn’t give a decrease to Wausau, the tax rate would have to be between $21.62 and $22.70, Van Tuinen had said. If the lower rate is set, it would mean about $300 in taxes on a $100,000 home.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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