Chesterville Select Board Chair Eric Hilton and treasurer Erin Norton discuss the town’s tax commitment process during the Sept. 5 Select Board meeting, after addressing discrepancies in property valuations in Chesterville. Submitted Photo

CHESTERVILLE — Tax bills will be sent out following the Sept. 5 Chesterville Select Board meeting, after a lengthy discussion about discrepancies in the town’s tax commitment process.

Treasurer Erin Norton emphasized the urgency. “I am nervous about the predicament we are in, with how much money we have in our bank account and what we need to pay our bills over the next month,” said Norton. “That is why I want the taxes committed.”

Norton noted that she had already begun the process of setting up a tax anticipation note. “We won’t draw that money if we don’t need to,” she added. “We don’t know the interest rate yet, but I expect a competitive rate from Skowhegan Savings.”

At the Aug. 22 meeting, the Select Board set the tax rate at $13.05 per $1,000 of property valuation, a decrease from last year’s rate. Chairman Eric Hilton noted that a recent property revaluation had added 40% to buildings and 20% to land values.

However, following the Aug. 22 meeting, the town issued a notice of a potential issue with the 2024 tax commitment. “We paused the current commitment process because the numbers that the board voted on were not what we expected,” said Hilton at the Sept. 5 meeting.

Hilton explained that the discrepancy arose from the adjustments made by the town’s assessor, Bill Van Tunen. “Bill made some changes that we weren’t aware of,” Hilton said. “He went in and put in a new code to update outbuildings and adjusted depreciation, which increased evaluations beyond the 40/20 split we had voted on.”

“We had to do the 40/20 to be able to meet the state’s requirement so we could get these exemptions – the homestead exemption, the tree growth, all the different exemptions,” Hilton added. “Bill said 40/20 was the way we had to go to do that.”

Hilton acknowledged that some residents experienced higher-than-expected property increases. “One client went up 51%, and we wanted to understand why,” he said. “Bill found that outbuildings hadn’t been updated in 10 years, so when he applied the new code that increased the valuation.”

Residents expressed concerns about the fairness of the 40% increase in property values compared to the 20% increase in land values. “Land is not worth as much as land with a building on it,” Norton added.

Norton also addressed concerns about the need for future adjustments. “Essentially by factoring up, we circumvented a revaluation,” she said. “That is the purpose behind factoring everybody up by a percentage – to prevent a costly revaluation.”

Despite frustrations, Hilton urged residents to have faith in the process. “This is a historic situation that happened for the first time,” he said. “Bill said in 50 years he has not seen this.” He also noted the potential for a full revaluation in the future. “If we were to consider a revaluation, it could be presented to the people at the town meeting in March,” Hilton said, though he acknowledged the cost would be significant.

“I think we have to accept this right now,” Hilton concluded. “A revaluation in the future is something we need to discuss, but right now, we are kind of stuck with this.”

The Select Board ultimately decided to move forward with the 2024 tax commitment. Tax bills were to mailed Sept. 6, with the sole payment due Dec. 14. Interest on late payments will accrue at 5.5% beginning Dec. 15.