Jay granted reduced valuation because of mill closing

JAY — The state has agreed to lower Jay’s valuation because of the Androscoggin Mill closing.

Pixelle Specialty Solutions of Pennsylvania stopped making paper in early March.

Town officials applied for a reduction of valuation through the Sudden and Severe Disruption of Valuation program. It is the fifth time they have filed because of the mill downsizing and eventual closing.

Pixelle has hired a company to sell remaining industrial equipment, which was in the process of being decommissioned in October.

JGT2 Redevelopment based in Kansas is proposing to buy the property to develop it into industrial uses but not papermaking. The company is still working on the proposal, partner Tony McDonald wrote in an email.

The partners in the company plan to restart the natural gas-fired cogeneration facility owned by Pixelle.

Based on the state’s review, the town “has satisfactorily demonstrated that it has experienced a net reduction in equalized municipal valuation of at least 2% attributable to a single taxpayer that was the result of the cessation of business operations…” according to a Nov. 17 letter to the Select Board and Board of Assessors Chairman Terry Bergeron.

“As a result, the town’s request for an adjustment to its equalized valuation has been granted,” Tony Pinette, tax section manager for state valuation of the Property Tax Division, wrote.

The valuation reduction will be for 2024-25. The amount, which will be announced later, is expected to adjust three years of state valuation, Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere said. The adjustment will affect state revenue-sharing and state education funding.

The adjusted numbers will be provided to Bergeron under separate letter.