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Property Taxpayers Lament Tale of Two Madisons

September 15, 2009 - EAST MADISON -- Sam Gray says his taxes 10 years ago were $800 for his modest home on about an acre of land on the East Madison Road, near Wesserunsett Lake.

This year his tax bill is $1,775 and he says the new assessments levied by the Madison Board of Assessors are unfairly hitting landowners with property on or near the lake.

Skip Viles, whose property is on the lakeshore, said his tax bill this year is $3,600 for a 100-by-200-foot lot. When he built the house in 1986, his annual taxes were $243.

The men and others who have property on or near Wesserunsett Lake have organized a special tax meeting, set for 6:30 p.m. Monday at the Grange hall in East Madison Village.

They say their property taxes are going up 10-20 percent, while taxes on land in town are not changing at all.

"When they appropriate money to cover their budgets, they have to do it evenly throughout the town and not pick on a portion of the town," Viles said. "They are not proportionally taxing the people -- all people should pay their fair share."

The Board of Assessors announced the rate changes to residents in a letter last month.

Assessors Richard Bartlett, Raymond Soucy and Cathy Wilson said in the letter they are just trying to be fair and equitable. The assessors say they are trying to establish an assessment ratio that reflects actual sale prices of real estate and to keep that ratio at 100 percent for taxation.

"In the past several years, since the development at the state level of a homestead exemption, the requirement to maintain fair and accurate tax assessments has been given greater priority," the assessors write in the letter to residents. "Each year the assessors need to certify to the state of Maine our assessment ratio, the average ratio of our assessed values to sales prices."

The letter, written for the board by the town's assessors' agent William Van Tuinen, goes on to say that in 2008 the assessed valuation did not accurately reflect sales prices and without this year's adjustments, the board would not be able to maintain its targeted ratio of 100 percent.

As it ended up, the assessment ratio comes in for this year at 94 percent valuation when compared to property sales ending April 1, 2009, according to the letter.

Van Tuinen, who also owns property on East Madison Road, could not be reached Thursday for comment on the matter.

Under the new tax rates, assessment on buildings is up 6 percent, with rural land values up 10 percent and lakefront land up approximately 20 percent, according to the letter.

In-town village land is unchanged, the letter states.

Assessor Raymond Soucy said the taxes are fair and that he agrees with the bills for this year. He said lakeshore property values have gone up, as have wood lots for harvesting timber.

"I think it's a fair assessment," Soucy said. "Everybody got the letter explaining their taxes and we agreed that the letter was fair at a meeting and the best way out for the town."

Sam Gray doesn't think so. "The in-town people have so much more benefit than we do -- they have water, sewer, electric -- I have to put a septic system in and that's five grand," he said. "I don't understand why my taxes have to go up for my home; I haven't done anything to my home since I moved in there, now they want to increase me again."

Assessors in the letter say landowners who are not pleased with the new assessments can apply for a tax abatement or an adjustment to the assessed land value within 185 days of the date of the letter.

BY DOUG HARLOW
Staff Writer
Kennebec Journal 9/11/09


Lakes: Wesserunsett Lake
Regions: Belgrade


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