Official urges fees for tax-exempt properties

HOULTON – At a contentious board of budget review meeting late last week that saw many members shaking their heads in frustration and gazing warily at the clock on the wall, one official urged the board to garner additional revenue by squeezing money from the town’s tax-exempt properties.

It was an idea that Stan Ginish put forth earlier this year, when fears about the drastic effects of the 1 percent tax cap referendum loomed in the distance. His idea was rejected then, and many members didn’t seem to take it too seriously at the latest meeting.

“The law allows us to institute fees for services in lieu of taxes,” Ginish maintained. “Why have we never really looked at that? These people are getting free snowplowing and free fire protection, and the taxpayers are being cheated.”

Any decision about the matter will ultimately be up to the Town Council, as the board of budget review is simply an advisory group. The collective intends to recommend the suggestion to councilors.

There are many tax-exempt organizations in the state, including hospitals and churches. While state law gives municipalities the discretion to establish fees instead of taxes, those fees must be collected from every property owner and not be assessed on the basis of valuation. A town cannot charge just one church or hospital and let the others shirk the fee.

According to the Maine Revenue Service, the total value of tax-exempt property in the state in 2003 was more than $13.5 billion.

Ginish said during the meeting that “people in political office should stop fearing political consequences and come up with a formula,” to garner money from these organizations.

It is an issue that has come up many times in the past, interim Town Manager Cathy O’Leary said Thursday evening. When she told Ginish that “it has been looked into,” the Houlton resident interrupted with, “but we’ve let it fail because we haven’t pursued it.”

Councilor Paul Cleary told the group that a lot of the town’s property is tax-exempt because Houlton is “a service community.”

“Take property like the Aroostook County Jail and the Department of Human Services,” he said. “They provide services. You can make the recommendation and it is up to the council. We’ve discussed this every year that I’ve been here.”