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Casco Group Withdraws Property Tax Appeal

December 10, 2008 - CASCO -- After fighting to reduce property taxes for more than 200 waterfront landowners in Casco, Robert Levesque has, at least for the time being, given up the fight against the town’s 2007 property revaluation.

“For the moment, this is over,” Levesque said Nov. 26 from his winter home in Arizona. “I just want to forget it.”

The fight against what Levesque has called a “hit-or-miss” revaluation started when he filed 233 abatement requests on behalf of members of the Casco Tax Fairness Association, which Levesque founded. After the majority of the abatement requests were denied by Assessor John O’Donnell, Levesque brought an appeal to the Cumberland County Commissioners. Before the commissioners considered the appeal, Levesque withdrew it in a letter dated Nov. 14.

“Our group started with the best of intentions to win this case,” Levesque wrote. “But it has become increasingly clear to me that we’re on a ‘fool’s errand’ if we continue.”

Lyman Stuart, who was a member of the Casco Tax Fairness Association, has lived on Thomas Pond in Casco for six years. Stuart, 59, said he didn’t think his property was fairly assessed. After the previous assessor, Ken Allen, found his property worth $163,400 in 2003, Stuart was shocked to see his assessed value rise to $365,000 in 2007. His property taxes were raised by a couple thousand dollars. After asking unsuccessfully for a $63,000 abatement, Stuart said the fight is over.

“We took a good shot at it,” Stuart said. “We’ll just have to wait for the next assessment, I guess, and hopefully they’ll do it differently.”

Stuart said nearly all the money Levesque collected for legal fees, mailings and other costs has been returned to members of the tax fairness association.

Besides submitting the appeal, Levesque gathered signatures to place two referendums on the Nov. 4 ballot. A question asking residents to mandate a new property revaluation for no more than $290,000 failed 1,448-503 and a question asking residents to enact an ordinance for recall of public officials failed 1,015-873.

Commissioner Richard Feeney said the burden of proof in property value appeals lies with the homeowner. In some cases homeowners pay for a private evaluation of their property, or they may present the commissioners with comparable listings in the community.

Though the commissioners receive quite a few appeals of property tax decisions, it is unusual to receive a large group such as they received from Levesque, Feeney said.

In his November letter to the commissioners, Levesque pointed out that 80 percent of those involved in the appeal live out of state in the winter, and thus would be unlikely to return to Maine for a December hearing. He also said the commissioners do not provide enough guidance to those seeking an appeal.

“It becomes quite clear that the state of Maine laws are stacked against the taxpayer,” Levesque wrote. “By making the process of appeal so difficult, it compels taxpayers to accept unfair tax assessments.”

By Julia Davis
Reporter - Lakes Region Weekly
December 5, 2008


Lakes: Coffee Pond, Crescent Lake, Panther Pond, Parker Pond, Pleasant Lake, Raymond Pond, Sebago Lake, Thompson Lake
Regions: Sebago


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