GREENVILLE – Municipal officials are planning to seek legislative action on a proposal they say would alleviate pressure on the infrastructure of service center towns caused by the escalating growth in surrounding unorganized territories.

Town Manager John Simko and Code Enforcement Officer Richard Gould said they plan to meet with Gov. John Baldacci next week to tout a “provocative proposal” that would give service center communities half the new property tax revenue generated in the unorganized territories.

Simko, who announced his proposal to Piscataquis County commissioners earlier this year, said that growth in the unorganized territories will have a detrimental impact on regional infrastructure, such as solid-waste transfer stations and public boat-launch facilities.

The proposal also is intended to be a solution to the problem Greenville faces with disparate tax rates between the unorganized territories and the town.

Neighboring Moorhead Junction Township has a tax rate of $8 per $1,000 valuation, while Greenville’s tax rate is $20.70 per $1,000 valuation, according to Simko. Anyone wanting to invest in a home or business that could get the services provided nearby from a service center community would naturally locate in the nearby unorganized territories, he said.

“In particular, we believe a bill which would codify this proposal into law as an option for regions to work together as opposed to a mandate,” Simko said.

The proposal is to place half the new taxes generated from subdivisions, renovations or new construction into a regional infrastructure account to help defray the capital costs of new or expanded infrastructure, the need for which would be triggered by growth in the unorganized territories, according to Simko. He said that the other half of the new taxes would continue to flow into the unorganized territories account. Tree-growth penalties, which is unanticipated income, also could be rolled into the regional infrastructure account, he said.

Simko said the concept, which could be used by any service-center community, is intended to be done without hurting the favorable property tax rate in the unorganized territories. The fund would be held and controlled by the regional governmental partners and would be disbursed for projects to improve or expand regional infrastructure. For example, the fund would help with capital projects such as transfer stations, the airport, the Junction Wharf or the landfill,

“With such a system in place, the service center benefits from growth outside of its borders but within the region,” Simko said.