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Farmington selectmen increase tax rate, fund TIF

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The Farmington Board of Selectmen discuss the tax rate.
The Farmington Board of Selectmen discuss the tax rate. Left to right are: Selectman Stephan Bunker, Selectman Joshua Bell, Board Chair Ryan Morgan, Town Manager Richard Davis, Town Secretary Linda Grant and Selectman Michael Fogg.

FARMINGTON – The Board of Selectmen set the tax rate at Tuesday evening’s meeting, approving a 9.91 percent increase to last year’s rate to cover increases in the municipal and school budgets, as well as a decrease in state revenue sharing funds.

Selectmen approved a mil rate increase of  $1.56, to total $17.31 per $1,000 of property value.  This fiscal year, a property owner will need to pay $156 more per $100,000 worth of  taxable property.

“Unfortunately,” Board Chair Ryan Morgan said, “we knew this year would be tough.”

The town’s assessment for school funding represents the biggest jump in appropriations, increasing by $388,000 or 10.3 percent from $3.77 million to $4.16 million, after Mt. Blue Regional School District voters approved a $1.2 million increase to the 2014-15 budget in June. The municipal budget rose by 2 percent to top $5 million following the March town meeting. The county budget was down slightly, a little more than .5 percent.

Farmington also lost more than 20 percent of its state municipal revenue sharing funds, going from $480,000 down to $378,000.

The tax rate covers all of the municipal operations, school and county expenditures, plus a small amount in the overlay account to cover abatements. This year, selectmen had a little more input on the final rate, due to the new downtown tax increment financing  (TIF) district and its sliding capture rate.

The TIF captures a percentage of new valuation in a district, which consists of most of the downtown, as well as some additional property, such as the new Brookside Village Affordable Senior Housing development in Fairbanks. The captured valuation is not added into the state-calculated town valuation, meaning it won’t be considered in the school funding formula. Funds raised through the taxation of captured valuation are not added to the general fund, but instead set aside for special projects within the district, as defined by the TIF.

The TIF represented a “double-edged sword,” according to town assessor Mark Caldwell. A higher capture rate meant less money to cover expenditures, forcing the tax rate up to compensate, but it also sheltered the valuation against consideration by the state for the purposes of the school funding formula. The local school assessment represented one of the larger factors in calculating the tax rate; Caldwell noted that valuation changes took two years to be recognized and calculated by the state.

The value which could be considered part of the downtown TIF district increased by $22.3 million as of April 1, 2014, due to projects like Brookside, which was 65 to 70 percent complete at that time. Selectman Stephan Bunker suggested setting a capture rate that would allow the TIF to fund the planning of projects in the district, with the board and town officials briefly discussing projects that ranged from new sidewalks to streetlights to a bridge over the Sandy River.

Town Manager Richard Davis suggested forming a committee to brainstorm possible TIF projects, consisting of both selectmen and residents. The Board of Selectmen is the entity that actually approves TIF funding for any purpose.

Morgan suggested a capture rate of 30 percent, enough to begin setting aside funds for planning but not too much as to dramatically increase the mil rate. That number later came down to 28 percent, to keep the total tax increase below 10 percent.

A 28 percent capture rate of $22 million in total, new value would add $108,300 into the TIF account, Caldwell said. It would increase the tax rate from .01707 to .01731.

Last year, the board reduced the tax rate, from 16.6 down to 15.75 per $1,000 of property valuation, following a town-wide revaluation that saw taxable real estate valuation increase by $54 million.

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20 Comments

  1. What the state intended us to do with decreased revenue sharing was to cut local spending rather than increase taxes. True conservatives would have done that. In fact, conservatives spend ad much or more of our money than liberals, just on different things. Bah!

  2. I think it is time for some change. It no longer pays to keep up a nice home in this town. My taxes went up $300 last year and now are going up $225 more. You people need a reality check! The town will own 1/2 the house in the next 5 years. Go ahead selectman spend some more money your tax payers don’t have.

  3. I hope this doesn’t surprise the voters in Farmington. If it does the next time you want a new police garage, high school, or elementary school you had better read the fine print. Money doesn’t grow on trees, or so I’ve been told.

  4. You had my property reassessed last year. A big jump since it wasn’t done since 1993 and now you want to raise taxes almost 10 present. That’s a lot to swallow in two years time. Somebody’s poor at the budget, or making $$ somewhere. Hopefully properties can be re-assessed in a more timely manner. No more surprises.!!! Maybe time to move.

  5. This is why we are selling our home, we can no longer afford to live here. Our taxes went up 300.00 last year, now this year more and more money for what? My Mother a widow lives on a modest income and is barely getting by another increase for her will result in a choice to purchase needed medications or keep her home. If the university paid taxes our taxes would be affordable.

  6. When the MBRSD school budget came up for a vote, a few of the smaller towns voted the increased budget down, but Farmington was not one of them. The budget was passed. That increased amount of money has to come from somewhere, and normally it is from taxation. The taxes were bound to go up, if not for this reason, then certainly other factors. The smaller towns of MBRSD are going to have an increase also. Just something to think about next time the MBRSD budget comes up for vote and the voters APPROVE it!!!

  7. $300 last year, $250 more this year. Education and public safety, neither will ever have enough.

  8. Time to get out of Dodge, I’d say. My taxes went up $500 last year and now I’m being told they are going up again. Lovely! We didn’t need all these new schools and do they ever come even close to budget, never! It is out-of-control.

  9. If you vote for big ticket projects or budgets, or you don’t vote against them, then taxes will go up. Nothing in life is free, despite what everybody tries to tell you when seeking approval for these things. It would be interesting to know just how much of this tax hike is due to recent school building projects and an increase in SAD 9’s budget. It might lend some perspective. Our town voted down SAD 9’s budget, but it was passed anyway, and our taxes are going up just like everyone else’s…..again. Too bad our income isn’t going up at the same rate–not even close.

  10. Fed up isn’t the REAL word… I think it’s time we take a real serious look at the amount of money we DON’T
    get from non-profits. Every year a letter goes out for contributions in lieu of taxes. M-m-m-m-m…let’s see…the hospital gave $0, I believe, and the college gave $0, also.
    Now…if you factor the amount of taxes we lose every year to just those two non-profits (over $2 million), and they paid SOMETHING….we wouldn’t have to stick it to the tax payers.
    Everyone screams about “services”….well, look where THAT gets us. Our contribution to welfare just in town has doubled in the past four years.
    The big thing…look who wants those services…not the working people. Maybe a REVOLT is in order.

  11. Get over it. You want stuff, you have to pay for it. The town provides many services – you may not use all of them, but you do use some of them. We all have to contribute to all of them – it actually lessens the burden.

    Demanding that the college pays taxes is counter-productive – state taxes will increase to cover it. Back to square one. Of course the college could move to another town where it didn’t have to pay taxes. Good for the college, not so good for Farmington which would be just another dying rural town without the college.

    And, instead of complaining about taxes, why not get involved in the town government? How about joining some committees and see how things really work and how complicated they are in practice? Or do you just prefer to whine?

  12. Glad the school district switched away from oil heat! How is everyone enjoying the “largest tax brake ” from the Governor! I didn’t notice it in April, but with revenue sharing down and school district funding down I see it now! Biggest “tax shift” ever!

  13. Well said Lefty. There are several “open” positions on Town committees. Take some time and explore what you think needs to be done and then find out how to do it. Most people have a budget and know what has to be purchased, extras can be left off the list and funds can purchase the basics, taxes are the basics. Looking forward to seeing more names of unhappy people on the volunteer committee membership lists; you know who you are.

  14. Keep dumping your money into the police dept. You have a sheriffs dept too. Wow Farmington, two police forces…no wonder your taxes are so high. Your roads are so terrible that nobody exceeds the speed limit on them. Good for you…

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