Property tax shock hits in Guilford

GUILFORD – Elizabeth Orchard, 77, quickly put her home on the market after she received her tax bill last week.

Orchard said Monday she was stunned when she opened her tax bill and learned the value of her mobile home had nearly tripled. “If I didn’t have ulcers before, I have them now,” she said.

Thanks to a revaluation, Orchard’s 1973 mobile home and a same-size addition, along with the 10 acres they sit on, jumped in valuation from $63,050 in 2006 to $166,000 this year. That means Orchard’s tax bill increased from $999.34 to $2,008.60.

Orchard isn’t the only one feeling the pain. About 70 people, including Orchard, met last week with Penquis Real Estate Services Inc. of Newport, the firm hired to make the appraisals. More are expected to meet with the firm this week.

“The town, for the very first time in its history, has just had a complete revaluation of all nonindustrial property, and the values have increased significantly in a majority of cases,” Guilford Town Manager Tom Goulette said Monday.

“While more than a few residents are upset with their new values, most seem to agree that the new figure is a much more realistic view of where they would price their properties, if selling,” Goulette said. On the other hand, there are those that appear to be way out of line, he noted.

Goulette said his own five properties combined jumped in value by $223,677. He said his taxes were $4,427 in 2006 compared to $6,869 this year. Four of the five selectmen also saw increases in their property valuations, he said.

For decades, selectmen have done the assessing, but when a state sales ratio study showed the town was slipping in assessing properties at market value, residents voted to have a professional revaluation done. That state study revealed the town was falling below 75 percent of the “true and just” market value of nonindustrial properties. Were the town to dip that low, it would lose its allotment of revenue sharing funds.

In addition to the state study, the need for a revaluation was made evident during an abatement hearing last year before the Piscataquis County commissioners. At that hearing, it was noted the town had no supporting data on properties on which a comparison study could be done.

The selectmen, all of whom hold full-time jobs, didn’t “apply today’s standards and never collected data that you have to have today,” Goulette said. Those data included the number of rooms and bathrooms in a home and other supporting information. Other than new homes, selectmen typically based their valuations on a visual tour from the outside.

“We knew our values were way out of line,” Goulette said.

The revaluation increased the town’s valuation from $128 million to $164 million, which allowed town officials to decrease the mill rate from $15.85 to $12.10 per $1,000 valuation.

Even though there was no major increase in spending at the municipal level, the current budget is less than 3 percent higher than in 2006, the mill rate has been reduced, and the total commitment to be raised by local property tax is $1,911,338.56, or $19,092.05 less than last year, many residents will pay more.

“The difference comes from the balance between industry’s taxes and all others,” Goulette said. The three industries have been scrutinized every year and have had annual adjustments to their values. Thus, their numbers were already in line, he said. All other parcels have not been adjusted except for an occasional across-the-board-percentage bump. Consequently, they fell quite a bit off track, he said. Making these values fair and just increased the percentage of nonindustrial to 58 percent and lowered the industrial class to 42 percent. Traditionally, it has been nearly a 50-50 split, Goulette said.

While it may seem that industry is getting a break, it is more likely it has been carrying more than its fair share over the years, Goulette said. He said the taxes for industry, as a group, will decrease significantly as taxes become more equitable.

The drop in the mill rate did little to pacify husband Jim Wierman, 54, and wife Shirley Wierman, 62, whose taxes on their 1988 mobile home on Water Street increased from $542 to $1,047. The increase in valuation is a “shock,” but also unsettling is the fact residents only have until Aug. 31 to pay their bills before interest is applied, Shirley Wierman said Monday.

“It’s scary. I don’t know how we can come up with the money before the end of August. Had we known earlier we could have saved up for it,” Wierman said. She said her husband retired from a career in the Navy but works odd jobs to make ends meet, and she is disabled.

Orchard, who is on a fixed income and cares for her 59-year-old daughter who is deaf, also takes little comfort from the mill rate reduction. “I’m just hoping and praying the good Lord will help me find a buyer for this place.”