JAY – The town has submitted an application for an adjustment in its state valuation, citing the “sudden and severe disruption in value,” referring to the reduction in value at the Verso Androscoggin Mill. If approved, the designation would reduce the local share of the town’s educational appropriation and result in a slight increase its revenue sharing funds.
The request centers around the August 2015 announcement at Verso that two paper machines were being shut down, reducing production and eliminating 300 full-time employee positions. The company would declare bankruptcy in the first quarter of 2016.
According to the valuation reports compiled by the town before and after the reductions at the Verso, the town realized a valuation loss of $122,869,588 from a single taxpayer. That loss was comprised of both lost value and valuation lost via the Business Equipment Tax Exemption program which had previously provided Jay with a $13.2 million reimbursement. That combined loss would meet the 2 percent threshold for the “sudden and severe” adjustment.
The town’s assessor had previously estimated that last year’s “sudden and severe” adjustment had resulted in the town reducing its local educational appropriation by approximately $1 million, down to $7.96 million. The designation also results in comparatively small increase to the state revenue sharing funds.
Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere noted that while last year’s application had been too late to be incorporated within the school budget process, this year’s adjustment should appear as part of the revenue numbers reviewed by the RSU 73 board.
Selectperson Judy Diaz asked LaFreniere to schedule a meeting with the selectpersons and school board directors in all three towns: Jay, Livermore and Livermore Falls, sometime in mid-October. It would be a chance to look at the region’s situation more closely, Diaz said.
The Board of Selectpersons previously approved a $21.10 tax rate per $1,000 of property value, marking a $3.85 increase from the previous year. The .02110 rate includes a .00385 increase from the previous year’s rate, representing a $3.85 increase as applied to each $1,000 in property value. That means a $100,000 piece of property would be taxed at $2,110, presuming a reduction such as Homestead Exemption was not utilized.
In other business, the board approved extending an agreement with Livermore Falls to house their fire equipment by an additional year. The town has received roughly $3,000 through the agreement, which splits heating and water costs at the fire station.
This problem sounds like a” poor me thing”. Let’s look at reality folks if you keep wanting more and more from a company just because they own a significant amount of land and are making money with it what is going to happen when they VERSO gets tired of playing the game? The woods market is a struggling occupation now and then paper market is pretty much gone due to US humans who thought that we needed all of this advanced technology.. ask yourself when was the last time you drove to a city and bought something off the shelf or ordered or receive any amount of ordering catalogs? I can speak for myself and my fellow wood harvesting company’s we certainly have taken a HUGE hit in our wallets and we complain but who is there for us with big hand outs? Not our government or our local charities.. I certainly think that the town of Jay should be grateful for what you get!! Don’t be greedy or VERSO will be out of state. They are still the worls largest paper providing company just across the ocean is No restrictions or big taxes. So it’s unfortunate that the town’s taxes are going up however there are many towns that are “GHOST TOWNS” now due to the mills closing across the state. Just think long and hard how much more the taxes will go up.. just saying
I see it a little differently- with the loss of a taxpayer, the town needs to make adjustments, and this is the first step. Verso is not threatening to leave or asking for more- they’ve already declared bankruptcy and shut down machines… The town is not being greedy, they are simply facing the reality that their tax base is different without Verso.
Suks…don’t it.
Been there…done that.
Welcome to the club.
The business climate in the state is terrible. Of course the woods industry is hurting, local economy’s,are hurting,as well as families and individuals. The town is only doing what it has to. A good friend of mine often says there are no problems only solutions. With that in mind why the heck are we not growing industrial hemp for pulp,fuel and textiles? The entire infrastructure is in place and milestones in anti prohibitive legislation has already been passed. I think Verso has the potential to be the industry leader here. I think the state of Maine has the potential to be the leading manufacturer and exporter of hemp products in the northeast and possibly the world and I don’t see one good reason why no one is doing it other than some kind of purtian social taboo from the 50’s&60’s era.
Let’s figure out a way to blame the school district. It always seems like their budget that keeps passing at the polls no questions asked. I think we need to ask our neighbors and friends to take a serious pay cut so my taxes stay down.
The Ant and the Grasshopper? Could some have been set aside during the good times? Jay is going to have to learn to be a village.
I really hope Martin Jones was being sarcastic. Let’s NOT balance the budget on the backs of our children and at the expense of their education.
The school system is the biggest user of our tax dollars. They need to cut just as the other departments in the town have. They can no longer have everything they want. They need to just get the basic education and forget all the frills that the mill has been paying for. There will be more taxpayers and interested citizens attending all the meetings to see where the money is going and where they need to make cuts.
Nell, you say that like the school system hasn’t been cutting every year. You can’t get blood from a turnip.
I knew someone would take the bait. Thank you Nell for proving my point.
So Martin…what is your point?
Why let someone else do your talking..
Please do tell.
Times they are a changing.
Already have.
Welcome to the new normal.
My point is that someone will inevitably blame the school district for the town of Jay’s short sided view on the amount of tax base Verso covers.
The town of Jay’s budget has risen continuously time and again and is voted in with little to no discussion from the tax payer. Bloated services that a town of 5,000ish people don’t need. A police force with new SUV cruisers, an enormous fire department, and for a long time curb side trash pick up.
Yet when it’s the school people baulk and need to scrutinize every penny that is put into education. The district had to freeze spending on the budget very recently so there is enough money at the end of the year to pay its employees and yet we have a town office with more staff than they know what to do with.
Clear enough?