ST. AGATHA – Residents and property owners in this northern Maine lakeside town have until Aug. 22 to sign up for a municipal tax club and participate in a monthly tax-payment plan.

Under the plan, taxpayers’ bills would be divided into eight equal payments with the first due Sept. 15 and the final installment made on April 15, 2009.

“This is not a new thing,” said Ryan Pelletier, town manager. “It’s been done other places downstate.”

Pelletier credits local tax collector Kelly Thibodeau for proposing the plan.

“Kelly brought it to my attention last year,” Pelletier said.

Starting the tax club meant first getting voter approval, but Pelletier said it was an easy sell.

“The selectmen said they liked it and approved sending it to the voters,” he said. “It passed unanimously at the town meeting in March.”

So far, 42 St. Agatha taxpayers have signed up.

Setting up a tax club, Pelletier said, allows the tax collector some leeway in how taxes are paid.

“Just about any town would let their residents make monthly payments,” Pelletier said. “But under the law, interest would accrue. The tax club alleviates that.”

Having a tax club also means people can pay their taxes over a specified period of time with no risk of having their names appear as having an outstanding tax balance in the annual town report.

In turn, there are benefits for the town.

“On our side it makes our cash flow a little more predictable,” Pelletier said. “Normally we get a lot of cash early on when the taxes are due and then not much after that.”

He said a steadier cash flow lessens the risk of the town having to take out bank loans as the fiscal year ends.

St. Agatha has actually seen its tax rate decrease over the past five years with the mill rate now standing at 18.50, down a quarter-mill from last year, Pelletier said.

“We’ve seen some good growth in the town with new homes and camps being constructed,” he said. “We’ve also seen a significant decrease in the cost of education.”

SAD 33 received increased funding from the state for 2008-09 and passed the savings along to local taxpayers, according to Pelletier.

The tax club, he said, is something the town is trying out with an eye to the future.

“Taxes will continue to be a problem as more cuts come from the state,” Pelletier said. “A revaluation of the town is also coming soon.”

In a move to help its older residents, the town in 2007 adopted a property tax assistance ordinance for residents 65 years and older who have lived in St. Agatha for at least 10 years.

Under the ordinance, qualified residents who received tax reimbursements from the state under the so-called circuit-breaker program for tax relief will get an additional reimbursement from the town.

“The town will pay them 10 percent of what they got from the state,” Pelletier said.

Applications for the tax club and the property tax assistance reimbursements are available from the St. Agatha town office.

jbayly@bangordailynews.net

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