Ashland mill rate increases by $1.50 due to cut in tree growth reimbursement

ASHLAND – Property taxes in Ashland will go up this year after action taken by the Town Council earlier this week, according to local officials.

The tax rate will rise from $18 per $1,000 of valuation to $19.50, according to Town Manager William “Ray” Beaulier.

Although the municipal appropriations were decreased by $12,087 during the annual town meeting in March, the town still needed to increase taxes, Beaulier said. The increase was attributed to a reduction in tree growth reimbursement from the state, an increase in taxes at the county level and a “substantial” increase of $67,663 in the town’s share of funding for SAD 32.

As a result of the jump in education costs, the council voted earlier this week to explore the town’s leaving the school district. Beaulier said Friday he has requested assistance from the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Municipal Association on the issue.

According to Beaulier, the new tax rate will mean that a property valued at $50,000 will experience an increase in taxes of about $75.

In their deliberations, the council also considered the amount of money taken from surplus to finance the continuing legal costs involved in fighting a tax abatement request by the Beaver Ashland Power Plant, the town’s largest taxpayer.

The plant produces electricity by using waste wood production. It was built in 1993 at a cost of more than $60 million. During a legal battle earlier this year, the Maine State Board of Property Tax Review found the municipality had assessed the plant properly for tax purposes.

If the town had lost the issue, it would have had to refund $1.6 million to the plant’s owners, Alternative Energy of Bangor. To pay for the refund, taxes would have doubled in Ashland, according to town officials.

Beaulier said Friday that last year, the town spent $189,000 on legal expenses. This year, officials have budgeted $25,000 and have spent $14,000. However, the legal troubles are not over. Pending are tax abatement related cases in Superior Courts in Aroostook and Kennebec counties.