MEXICO — Staff turnover at the town office has started to create some problems, including delayed tax bills, as the town works to get creative with how to keep operations running.

The Select Board met Sept. 1 with the main objective being to find some solutions.

Among the open positions are town clerk and town assessor.

One of the board’s first actions was to make Town Treasurer Aleece Martin-Kaulback the tax collector. Town Manager Amy Bernard recommended the change, which the Select Board supported 5-0.

Bernard said Martin-Kaulback cannot be treasurer and tax collector because it throws off the checks and balances that have been established. So, Bernard said she will take on the duties of the treasurer until the position is filled. She said she has experience to do this.

“If you had a big enough office, everybody would have a separate title. There would be a clerk, a tax collector and there would be a treasurer,” Bernard said. “Because of turnover in the office, we’ve had issues with enough people trained in what they were doing to be able to have those separate duties.”

Mexico has a three-person office staff, which includes Mara Lennon as the executive secretary.

Bernard said the hope is that they will be able to continue to operate with three full-time staff, who will eventually be cross-trained to assist in other roles in the front office.

One of the challenges is that the current staff have all served in their positions for less than five months.

“So we’re asking a lot from people who don’t have the proper training to perform the essential functions of the town,” Bernard said. She said training would be provided by the Maine Municipal Association.

She said the good news is they had more than 30 applications submitted for town clerk, who will also serve as the registrar of voters.

“We have a really good pool of candidates to pull from. I believe we have a candidate,” Bernard said. “I believe we’re in a position to make an offer once we review references. I think we’re in a good position to make that transition.”

Bernard said she may ask the board to meet soon to appoint the town clerk.

The town is also holding off on sending the 1,800 or so property tax bills because they don’t have an assessor. Bernard said the hope is for bills to be sent out by the end of September.

“This is usually done by the end of August,” she said.

When the tax bills are ready to go out, she said the Select Board will discuss the schedule for tax commitment in 2027.

In other business, the Select Board approved the sale of the former town library building at 134 Main St. to Don Hamann for $40,000. Bernard said Hamann will be renting the building, which is beside the town office.

The library was relocated to its permanent home at the Mexico Recreation Center at 15 Recreation Drive following volunteer efforts organized in mid-2022.

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