Poland Board of Selectmen

Met: May 6

New pipes OK’d

The scoop: Board members voted to spend $40,000 to put water pipes beneath the intersection of routes 122 and 26, which is being rebuilt. The state Department of Transportation told the town that placement of new water lines is required if any future development is planned for the area. Money for the pipe placement will come from a tax increment financing account dedicated to capital improvements, Town Manager Dana Lee said.

Assessments lacking

Issue: Poland’s property values are assessed at slightly more than half of their market value, according to an analysis recently performed by the Maine Revenue Services. That means some residents are carrying far more than their share of the town’s tax burden.

The scoop: Before a property revaluation can be performed later this year, the town needed to find out how accurate its assessments are in relation to market value. Analysts from the Maine Revenue Service determined that the town’s “sales ratio” is 56, which means that the town’s assessment of value is 56 percent of what the same property would sell for on the open market.

A sales ratio of less than 70 percent translates to grossly unequal taxation among the town’s property owners, according to Lee.

“Revaluations are not done to increase (municipal) revenues, as some people seem to think,” he said. “Instead, it’s just about distributing the tax burden differently, so that it reflects a true market basis.”

Street lights

The scoop: Selectmen reviewed and tabled an updated street light policy for adoption during the board’s next meeting on May 20. The policy relies on traffic and population density date to prioritize citizens’ street lamp requests.

Old Town Hall

Issue: About 70 percent of residents surveyed said they favored renovation of the old town hall so it once again could comfortably and adequately host town functions.

The scoop: Board members Tuesday endorsed a multiyear renovation plan to update the building, but without borrowing money to do it. Among other things, the plan calls for installation of new energy-efficient windows, updated electrical wiring, masonry repairs and acoustical modifications in the grand hall.

“It’s got a new roof and furnace, and the hardwood floors are in good shape, so we’re starting with a pretty nice building already,” Lee said. “Most people (in the survey) said it’s well worth saving.”

Up next: No money will be borrowed or bonded for the project, which could cost an estimated $140,000 over the next five years. Instead, board members said they would develop a plan to tackle repairs systematically with money already in the municipal budget.

For municipal news items, contact JT Leonard at 252-6040 or at [email protected].