MINOT – By unanimous vote, selectmen Monday night set the rate for 2005 property taxes at $14.30.
Although the new rate is only slightly higher than last year’s mill rate of $14.00 – and translates to an additional $30 in tax on a $100,000 piece of property – selectmen expressed disappointment that careful spending at March town meeting wasn’t enough to keep property taxes from rising.
“The tax rate shouldn’t have had to go up,” said Selectman Eda Tripp.
Tripp, also the town’s chief assessor, pointed out two items over which the town has no control as she led the board through the tax rate calculation worksheet:
• A drop in state revenue sharing, which Tripp estimated to be at least $15,000.
• A loss of about $65,000 in state reimbursement through the Homestead Exemption program.
Noting that the $80,000 total loss is more than half a mill, Tripp called the reduction “punishment for a small town that has kept things in line.”
Selectman Dan Callahan agreed that the state’s promise of property tax relief wasn’t evident in Minot.
“It’s all a shell game and in the long run, going to cost the taxpayers more,” said Callahan.
In an update on the project to bring water from the town garage well to the Minot Consolidated School, Road Manager Arlan Saunders told selectmen that Hodgdon Well Drillers had tested the difference in pressure at each end and determined that a larger tank was needed at the garage. The tank was installed, and as a result, Saunders said, the need for a booster pump at the school should be eliminated.
Selectman Steve French reported that while water sampled at the well head passes all tests, water coming through the pipe at the school end failed the first coliform test.
French noted that it is not uncommon for pipes to show contamination and that he had rechlorinated the system and has taken a new series of tests, the results of which are expected later in the week.
Saunders also reported that the paving work on Pottle Hill and Brighton Hill roads has been completed and that he expects Center Minot Hill and Cross roads will be paved in a week.
Town Administrator Rhonda Irish reported that the recreation committee is planning a community work day on Sept. 10 with donated labor and equipment, to make a major push to develop the access road into the proposed town recreation area adjacent to the school.
In other business, selectmen accepted Todd Olfene’s resignation from the recreation committee, directing Irish to prepare a letter expressing their thanks for his efforts and the deepest regrets with which his resignation is accepted.
Selectmen appointed Jonathan Pratt and Daniel Gilpatric to the recreation committee.
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