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New Tax Bills Have Casco Lakefront Owners Up in Arms

August 21, 2007 - Casco -- Robert Lévesque has spent most of his adult life working with numbers as a former corporate controller, treasurer and writer of an investment newsletter.

When he received his tax bill a few weeks ago, he was dismayed. The estimated bill reflected new land and property values for his Lakewood property on Sebago Lake under a proposed revaluation prepared by O'Donnell and associates of New Gloucester.

Lévesque reacted like many other shorefront owners -- first, he was shocked, and then he became angry. Waterfront land values had tripled or quadrupled, bumping tax bills two to three times the amount paid a year ago.

Spending hours researching tax records and new valuations, Levesque came to one conclusion. The proposed revaluation, Lévesque says, is "flawed" and "discriminatory." Lévesque says he uncovered a wide range of "inconsistencies" in how properties -- residential waterfront and commercial ventures -- were valued. He also learned that not every property was visited by the assessing company, and was unable to get a clear explanation as to the methodology used by O'Donnell and associates to arrive at proposed values. Based on his findings, Lévesque believes Casco selectmen should "throw out" the revaluation, fire the assessor and start over.

Over a hundred other property owners shared that viewpoint, and they made their voices and position quite clear Tuesday night, filling the fire station to protest against the new revaluation.

"There's a lot of anger out there amongst the very longtime waterfront owners, both young and old. I believe is a feeling of betrayal by the town and trying to shift the tax burden unfairly to them," Lévesque said. "Your own sign says, 'Welcome to the village of Casco.' Right now Casco doesn't feel like a very welcoming place, and I must say that many, many waterfront owners, who have been supporters of the village in many ways for decades are feeling a sense of betrayal."

Following hours of testimony by frustrated and highly charged taxpayers -- which ranged from personal stories of how properties had been in their families for 40 to 50 years but could be now sold due to individuals inability to pay the sharp increases, to comments about lack of information received during recent hearings with assessors -- selectmen voted 4-1 to delay use of revaluation figures for one year and to allow town officials time to meet with O'Donnell and associates to discuss taxpayers concerns, hear what was learned from the recent hearings, and then determine whether to continue with this firm or terminate the relationship, seek out a new firm and start over.

Town manager Dave Morton pointed out that old property values and adjustments(additions, new garages, houses) would be used as a base to calculate this year's taxes. He also noted that the old tax rate of $17.90 would likely increase to account for new spending approved at town meeting.

Selectman James Gerry initially proposed that officials scrap O'Donnell's revaluation and fire the assessor, citing taxpayers serious lack of confidence in the firm. Despite pleas from the crowd to support Gerry's recommendation, the motion failed due to lack of a second. Gerry was the lone dissenting vote on tabling use of the reval.

Board Chairman Susan Witonis backed a motion by selectmen Barbara York to allow O'Donnell and associates to meet with town officials to discuss concerns and what adjustments that might be made based on information gathered at the public hearings. Witonis felt the approach was in the spirit of "courtesy" and "seeing the process through."

Again, the crowd reacted with outrage, repeating several times, "fire them" and "where is your loyalty, to us or O'Donnell?"

Town manager Dave Morton crafted a compromise by suggesting setting aside the new revaluation three-year period but, he added that "this is just a delay." He also pointed out that even if the town ultimately decides to hire new assessing firm, there is no guarantee that waterfront taxpayers would not experience a drastic hike.

A few weeks ago, about 40 people approached selectmen about the new property values.

Since then, Robert Lévesque has been busy calling and e-mailing waterfront property owners across Casco about his findings encouraging them to attend Tuesday's meeting.

They responded in a big way the meeting was moved into the fire station garage, and town officials instituted a two-minute comment allowance. (Morton placed his watch on the table in front of them, which immediately received several boos.)

One by one, property owners stepped to a wooden podium, pointing out errors that appeared on their tax cards and questioning how high prices could be attached to land that is "often flooded in the spring" and was incapable of supporting future development. One property owner said his property is on Parker Pond, but on the tax card the assessor had listed the property on Pleasant Pond.

Dee Parker, who owns property on Thomas Pond, informed assessors that her property description was incorrect. The tax card claims her property has a well; he doesn't. It claims a screened porch has recently been added; the porch has been there for close to 40 years.

"They have my property valued at $354,000 with no water and an old septic tank. I went to a realtor and asked what I could get for my place. I was told $250,000. When I asked, I can't get $354,000?, I was told I couldn't," she said.

One speaker said he never would have believed that the taxes on his property in Los Angeles would be less than his mother's waterfront lot.

Property owners also complained that during their hearings, they were the ones to provide much of the information regarding their properties.

Frequently, property owners sought answers as to why some commercial properties situated on prime waterfront locations either saw slight increases or even reductions compared to values that they had received.

Lévesque offered several examples of "inconsistencies" and "unreasonable values" during his presentation. He cited a property two lots away from his. The property has been family-owned since 1931. A stream runs between both lots, and usually floods the land each spring. Expansion replacement is probably impossible, Lévesque said.

"Yet, some genius at O'Donnels has valued the land at $655,780, the total property at $731,310. No one will pay that much for land they cannot improve, except in the mind of the appraiser," Lévesque said. When he brought up the fact at the appraisal firm had not visited every property, Lévesque added, "O'Donnell appraisers can apparently come up with values on all their appraisals without ever leaving the office. They must have one powerful Ouija board working in their office. That must be how they come up with the $2 million per acre value on Sebago Lake water frontageI It would all be very funny if it were not so serious. Right now, we're talking about Casco property owners getting stuck with ridiculous land values for the next 10 or 15 years."

The evening was an emotional roller coaster, shifting from dismay to tears to anger. Some folks even yelled out that selectmen not supporting dumping the reval should be booted from office.

"This is a property tax blitzkrieg. Shame on you", a Meadow Road property owner said. "This is unethical and vindictive. I'll certainly be part of a grassroot movement against this."

Phil McSweeney talked about his parents cottage which was purchased in 1959. The land cost $4000, the cottage $10,000. The past 45 years, McSweeney has repaired and maintained the cottage as his parents grew older. He is determined to keep the property in the family for years to come. "No matter what it takes, I will not sell," he said. He does wonder how the property could jump to a value of $517,690 with tax bill over $5,000.

"I just believe in fairness, this is ridiculous," he said

This article originally appeared in The Bridgton News, August 16, 2007.

Lakes: Parker Pond, Pleasant Lake, Sebago Lake, Thomas Pond, Thompson Lake
Regions: Sebago


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