EDDINGTON – The Board of Selectmen set the town’s mill rate at Tuesday’s meeting knowing full well it may not mean much come November.

The board had planned to discuss the ubiquitous tax cap initiative – commonly known as the Palesky plan – but tax assessors did not attend the meeting. Town Manager Russell Smith said the selectmen would resume talks regarding potential impacts on the town if the tax cap passes at their next meeting Sept. 7.

“A lot depends on what happens in November,” Smith said Tuesday. “A re-evaluation of the town is badly needed.”

The mill rate was set at $18.45 per $1,000 of valuation, a small increase over last year’s rate. The Palesky plan would scale back assessed property values to their 1996 level and cap property taxes at $10 per $1,000 of valuation.

Proponents of the plan say lower property taxes would help Maine companies looking for lower tax rates. Opponents of the initiative say it would damage communities by not providing enough revenue to fuel basic needs.

“We still need money to run the town,” Selectman Joan Brooks said Tuesday, adding that contracts for snowplowing and trash removal still need to be renewed.

“Everyone will have to get their shovels and haul their own trash,” she said.