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Selectmen hire assessing firm

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Farmington selectmen vote to contract out for assessing services at Tuesday night's meeting.
At the Sept. 24 meeting, Farmington selectmen unanimously voted to contract out for assessing services. From left to right: Stephan Bunker, Joshua Bell, Ryan Morgan, Michael Fogg and Andy Bunker.

FARMINGTON – Selectmen approved contracting with a New Gloucester firm to handle the town’s assessing needs following an executive session held last week.

With a few final details to be worked out, the 3-year contract agreement with John E. O’Donnell & Associates, Inc., at a fixed cost of $45,000 per year, is expected to provide a representative from the firm to hold office hours in the Farmington Municipal Building one day a week.

John E. O’Donnell & Associates, Inc., established in 1961, is a municipal consulting firm specializing in tax assessing, tax equalization (revaluation), and tax mapping, according to its website.

Authorizing the town manager to enter into a contract with O’Donnell comes after selectmen elected to eliminate the town’s in-house full-time assessor position in favor of a part-time assessing service.

The move is expected to save upwards of $40,000 a year, said Town Manager Richard Davis.

“It’s a good firm, perfectly capable, and with good references,” Davis said. The neighboring towns of Jay, Wilton and Temple have contracted with O’Donnell.

He added their contract price was the lowest of the three bidding firms. Proposals came back totaling between $45,000 to $63,000 for between 120 days and 150 days a year of assessing service time.

During the last year, selectmen and a committee have spent a fair amount of time researching and discussing the most cost-effective option for providing the town’s assessing services since the town’s current, full-time assessor Mark Caldwell announced he is retiring at the end of this year.

In negotiations, selectmen asked for a regular update on assessing activity and a continual adjustments be made in different areas of town to avoid an expensive town wide revaluation. This is in addition to providing office hours for property owners’ questions. The firm is also available for email questions, but much of the routine questions can be handled through information found on the town’s website.

A part time assistant position, now held by Leanne Pinkham, remains to help keep up with the program’s data entry and other in-office needs.

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1 Comment

  1. Let the fair assessing begin! I hope to see a complete reassessing for the town within 3 years. Some taxes may go up; some may go down. But fairness should be the most important outcome.

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