Baileyville council discusses change in property taxes with Domtar’s exit

BAILEYVILLE – For decades, the pulp and paper mill picked up the bulk of the property taxes in this mill town.

First it was St. Croix Paper, then the Atlantic-based Georgia-Pacific, and more recently Domtar Corp.

But no more.

Earlier this month, the Montreal-based Domtar Corp. announced it was shutting down its paper machine operation, leaving 150 people out of work.

Although the pulp side of the business, which provides raw material to global markets, will continue, the town’s tax base is expected to take a major hit with the shutdown of the paper machine.

How much? Town officials don’t know.

That was one of the issues discussed at the Town Council meeting Monday night.

Town Manager Scott Harriman told the councilors he had asked the town’s attorney to look at the numbers to determine how much property tax was paid by the paper side and how much by the pulp side. “I asked him what his thoughts are, and I am waiting for him to get back to me,” he said.

Meanwhile, Harriman said, he has begun to look at ways to cut expenses.

The $50,000 the town had planned to use to pave roads has been put on hold. “I don’t see that as a priority given the current situation,” he said.

Harriman said he informed the police chief there will be no new cruiser this year. The fourth police officer’s position also has been placed on hold. “It would be ludicrous for me to sit here and say we don’t have some work to do,” he said.

Harriman suggested the council set up a workshop Tuesday to discuss the 2007-08 budget with department heads. “So what I would like to do is have a budget workshop session … at 4 p.m. where we will also discuss last year’s budget and the fund balance left from that and what we are going to do with that,” he said.

They agreed.

The town manager also said that council Chairman Dottie Johnson had asked him to find out from Domtar how many of the people laid off lived in Baileyville, but those numbers were not available Monday evening.