OTISFIELD — The town’s auditor told the Board of Selectmen on Wednesday evening that their finances are “good” and “on the right track.”
Auditor Bruce Nadeau passed out a six-page sample of the 77-page report, explaining to the board that he would “go over the meat of the report.”
Nadeau said that the town’s general fund had $2.2 million of assets, a gain of $150,000 from the previous year.
“(One thing) I thought was significant was the amount of taxes your town collected in 2016, compared to 2015,” Nadeau said. “This year, you only had to defer $109,000 of taxes, whereas in 2015, you deferred $125,000. That means you collected more this year, which is impressive, because your tax rate for 2016 was higher than 2015.”
Administrative Assistant Anne Pastore pointed out that the town agreed to send out notifications in October, rather than November, which prompted people to pay taxes earlier.
“I know a lot of towns do that: shake the trees and see if you can get more money in earlier,” Nadeau said.
Chairman Hal Ferguson agreed with Pastore, adding that he believes the extra 30 days notice “helped us out.”
Nadeau told the board that it’s also important to remember that moderate increases in the town’s tax rate are “better than holding the line for three years and having a big jump.”
The Otisfield Board of Selectmen and chairman of the Finance Committee meet with the town auditor Wednesday evening to discuss the town’s finances. Seated clockwise, from front, are Finance Committee Chairman Quentin Henderson, Administrative Assistant Anne Pastore, auditor Bruce Nadeau, Chairman Hal Ferguson, and Selectmen Rick Micklon and Lenny Adler.
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