By Scott Taylor,Staff Writer

AUBURN – A local planning group is hoping for legislative help in its property tax dispute with the city of Auburn.

Bob Thompson, executive director of the Androscoggin Valley Council of Governments, said his board is still hoping legislators will introduce a bill that would exempt groups like his from having to pay property taxes.

“We still have some concepts we are discussing,” Thompson said. “There’s nothing written or signed yet. We’re still looking to see if anything can be done.”

AVCOG has never paid property taxes on its nearly 10,000-square-foot office building on Manley Road. The pending tax bills are for $36,025.76 in real estate taxes and $14,690 in personal property taxes.

The city currently has a tax lien on AVCOG’s building, which matures in November for the first round of taxes, $25,357.88 due in 2003. If the lien matures, the city could foreclose on AVCOG’s offices.

The city could place a second lien on AVCOG this May, for an additional $25,357.88. That payment was due in 2004.

The city didn’t even assess taxes on the building until former Assessor Joe Downey did so in 1997, eight years after it was built.

The city repeatedly waived the tax bill, however. Officials maintained the group was exempt until 2003, when Councilor Bob Mennealy questioned the practice.

An interpretation by the city’s lawyer agreed that AVCOG should pay.

AVCOG appealed to the city’s assessment review board last year, but that board agreed that state law did not exempt AVCOG from property taxes.

“At that point, we had two choices,” Thompson said. “We could either work with the Legislature or appeal to Superior Court. The board decided it made no sense to just keep spending money on legal opinions, particularly all the way up to court.”