BAR HARBOR – Town councilors voted Tuesday to approve a conditional contract for a townwide revaluation, but not before expressing some concerns about how residents might be affected.

Vision Appraisal Technology of Northboro, Mass., was the only company to respond to proposal requests sent out by the town. The firm was awarded a $245,000 contract to conduct the revaluation, with the understanding that the contract would indicate explicitly the contract amount and that confidential income records would not be turned over to the town and therefore would not be made public.

Councilor David Bowden said he was concerned that some residents might not be able to afford increases in their tax bill and questioned when the new property values would go into effect. The last time Bar Harbor had a full revaluation in 1990, some people couldn’t afford their new tax bills and had to move away, he said.

“I had two neighbors that moved that had lived in this town for 70 or 80 years,” he said. “It was the saddest thing I’ve ever seen.”

Dana Reed, Bar Harbor’s town manager, said Wednesday that the new property values will be reflected in tax bills the town sends out in August 2006. The tax bills will represent the April 1, 2006, value of each property, he said.

Though some tax bills will increase, others likely will decrease and overall town taxes will go up only slightly, according to Reed. He told the council on Tuesday that the town’s 2005-2006 annual budget is expected to increase 2.7 percent.

Councilor Robin Weir expressed concern that efforts to create affordable housing in Bar Harbor, which has a lot of expensive oceanfront property, could be affected adversely by the revaluation. Vision Vice President Jay Taranto, who attended the meeting with Vision Regional Sales Manager Richard Romano, assured Weir that an affordable housing restriction on a property’s deed could help keep that property’s valuation relatively low.

According to officials in Bar Harbor, Ellsworth and Mount Desert, Vision is giving a 5 percent discount to each town as a result of the company being hired to conduct simultaneous revaluations in all three municipalities.

In other business, the council:

. Agreed to attend a Feb. 1 Chamber of Commerce breakfast forum at Atlantic Oakes By-the-Sea to discuss townwide parking issues.

. Accepted the resignation of Jennifer Fisk from the appeals board.

. Approved a plan to clear some West Street sidewalks of snow as it is removed by the Public Works Department.

. Decided to transfer $1,488 from the town’s contingency account to pay for emergency electrical repairs at the public safety building.

. Adopted a form by which official ethics complaints can be made about town officials or employees.