St. Albans to probe tax bill discrepancies

ST. ALBANS – While three legal challenges by St. Albans resident Gary Jordan against the town are nearing their day in court, a comprehensive, independent investigation by Jordan has turned up alleged inconsistencies and inadequacies in the town’s tax bills.

Jordan’s research is persuasive enough to have caught the attention of the Board of Selectmen, which is initiating its own investigation.

Jordan, a retired banker, sued the town in civil court after voters approved taking part of his property on Town Landing Road through eminent domain when they were told it would ensure access to the town swim front and boat launch on Big Indian Lake.

Jordan, however, maintains that town officials engineered the taking of his land after he refused to sell some land bordered by a stone wall so that a nearby landowner could have access to his business from Town Landing Road.

Depending on which side of the argument you are on, Jordan is either a champion of property rights or a thorn in the town’s side.

He is a constant presence at selectmen’s meetings, frequently challenges the board and town manager and maintains dozens of notebooks and binders full of documentation.

When he recently questioned why another resident’s property lines were moved on a deed without a bill of sale, Jordan was asked by the town manager if he was “the crusader for everyone in town.”

“When it comes to taking people’s rights and their property, I said I sure am,” Jordan said recently.

Jordan’s appeal of the eminent domain action is currently under review by the Maine Law Court. He also has two rulings expected from Superior Court Justice Joseph Jabar in September. One involves damages to his land by the town and a neighboring landowner and the other compensation for those damages.

Neither the landowner, Peter Duncomb, nor Town Manager Larry Post will discuss the suits while they are pending.

The controversy began in 1988, when Jordan purchased land on Town Landing Road, including the portion of the road that contained a town easement to the public landing.

“Right away I saw there was a break in the stone wall, which was my property line, that was not supposed to be there,” he said.

Since Jordan owns the land and the town has the right-of-way, he went to town officials for help in correcting the breach of the wall. Jordan said nothing was done, but lots continued to be sold in the area and in 1999, another lot was sold.

This time, the new owner, Duncomb, breached the wall and cut down trees so customers could have access to his self-storage units.

“The survey pins for my property are still in the middle of that wall,” Jordan said. Jordan again complained to town officials, who told him to sue the town if he was unhappy, which he did.

Since then, he has spent $55,000 on attorneys fees, maps, surveys and appraisals. When the town took the land, he was paid $2,000. The property has since been appraised at more than $100,000.

“In the beginning, all I wanted was the stone wall to be put back,” Jordan said. “Now I want the fair market value of my land.”

While fighting the eminent domain issue, Jordan began investigating town deeds, tax cards and assessments. He said this week that he has discovered serious inconsistencies, including seven properties that were completely missing from the tax rolls.

He said one land owner was being taxed for 90 acres, when in reality he owned 51.4 acres. With Jordan’s help, another land owner found that the town accepted a deed for his property without any proof that the property had been sold. The town then allowed a septic system to be installed on the unsold property by a neighboring owner.

“Something is desperately wrong here,” Jordan maintained.

Town selectmen have also taken notice of Jordan’s research. Selectman Dan Hanson said that he has concerns about untaxed property in the wake of reading some of Jordan’s paperwork.

Hanson said Thursday he will be meeting with fellow Selectman Gus Fasse to look at the validity of the research and make a determination of “where do we go from here.”

Hanson said that the amount of uncollected taxes, if valid, is not a large amount, but what concerns him the most are the motives behind the failure to collect. He stated that all tax collections are the responsibility of Post.