Property taxes due Nov. 15, but Buckfield has yet to set the rate

BUCKFIELD — Property tax bills are due in less than two weeks, but residents still do not know how much they will have to pay.

Town Manager Lorna Nichols told the Select Board on Tuesday that town officials have worked overtime trying to compile all the data required to calculate the tax rate, which she expects to be ready this week. Using that timeline, board Chairperson Cheryl Coffman scheduled a meeting for the Board of Assessors for 6:30 p.m. Thursday to determine the tax rate.

That board will also decide how much of the fund balance to use to help offset the rate. The town voted in September to use up to $200,000 from the fund balance for that purpose.

Nichols said the company that prepares the tax bills should have them ready three days after the tax rate is finalized.

Half of the property tax bill is due Nov. 15. Bills not paid by the deadline are subject to a penalty.

The reason bills are late is because the municipal budget was not approved by residents until late September. Normally, that vote is held during the summer.

Since last November, town government operations have been hampered for several reasons. Town office staff resigned that month, John Andrews took over as town manager and resigned six months later. Bradley Plante was hired as interim town manager in May and discovered the audit of town finances for fiscal year 2019-20, which ended June 30, 2020, had not been finished and therefore he didn’t know where town finances stood.

Plante was the fourth town manager since August 2020.

When the audit was finally finished last month, Plante and others drafted a budget for the current fiscal year 2021-22, which started July 1. Four days before voters adopted the budget, Plante submitted his resignation for health reasons.

Residents at Tuesday’s meeting said it was unfair to penalize them when it is the town’s fault for not having the bills ready in a timely manner. The town, however, cannot change the date bills are due, Coffman said, because that was the date residents approved during September’s town referendum.

If bills are not out by Nov. 15, Coffman suggested that residents should at least plan on paying the same amount they did last year, which would avoid a large penalty on the unpaid balance.

To help solve that problem, the town manager said she would post the tax bills on the town’s website, which would be available days before the bills would arrive by mail. Residents could print their tax bills and bring them to the Town Office with their payment.

In other business, the board decided to maintain the current office hours, with the Town Office closed to the public Mondays and Fridays, except by appointment. The board considered opening the office for a couple of hours Saturday morning, but decided to hold off for now. Nichols will place a survey on the town website to gauge residents’ opinions about opening Saturday.

A workshop will be held at 6 p.m. Nov. 30 to consider opting in on adult-use marijuana facilities.

The board also accepted an $8,000 contract with RHR Smith & Company of Buxton to provide next year’s audit. The well-known company conducts audits for dozens of Maine municipalities and counties.

A petition to change the name of Sodom Road to Foster Road was accepted by the board and will appear as one of the warrants at next year’s town meeting.