A tax commitment presentation was an important portion of the July 19th Rangeley Board of Selectmen’s meeting.  Matt Caldwell of RJD Appraisal, the Town of Rangeley’s contracted assessing firm, provided the information.
Rangeley saw an increase in new real estate valuations of approximately four million dollars over the past year.  The revenue from this additional taxable property is not sufficient to neutralize the $448,000.00 increase in Rangeley’s share of the school budget and the $220,000.00 increase in the municipal budget.  The municipal budget would have risen by $175,000.00 more if the Selectmen had not voted to allocate that amount from the Chick Hill material money that the Town received during the last airport project.  According to sales price data waterfront property is assessed at 84% of the selling price and non waterfront property at 94%.   The current mil rate is 13.84 and will increase to 14.84 which is an increase of approximately 7 1/2%.  This uptick in the mil rate by one full point translates into an additional dollar of tax for every $1,000.00 in valuation.  The Tax Increment Financing District application to the State of Maine has not been approved and cannot be recognized until 2022 so it will have no effect on increasing taxes this year.
Under the Public To Speak agenda item, a Haley Pond resident expressed frustration with fluctuating and persistently low water levels.  Town Manager Joe Roach agreed to look into the situation.
The Rangeley Region Broadband Delegates voted in favor of having Consolidated Communications submit a broadband funding grant application on their behalf at their June 30th meeting.  On July 13th the Town Manager was informed that the Rangeley area project was selected by Connect ME to be included in the next phase of grant considerations.
The Selectmen engaged in a lengthy discussion about transfers of reserve account money.  The Airport Reserve account contains $631,000.00 from the sale of Town owned material excavated at the Chick Hill Waste Treatment site and sold to the airport project.  The Selectmen want to transfer this money to the General Reserve and then use $175,000.00 to fund other reserve accounts so that new money does not have to be raised through taxation as was approved at Town Meeting.  The Selectmen have a letter from the FAA stating that this is not airport money but the Town’s Treasurer (and former Airport Manager) disagrees and the funds have not been transferred out of the account. The Selectmen found the information provided by the Treasurer confusing and decided to table the matter until they receive clearer documentation.
Town Manager Joe Roach provided information about the Maine Municipal Association Convention (MMA) to be held September 30, 2021 and October 1, 2021.  This is the 85th anniversary year for MMA.  Joe Roach is a strong advocate of professional development and encouraged all Selectmen and eligible Town employees to attend.
The Town Manager informed the Selectmen that Town employee Bailey Beers has passed her exams and is now a State Certified Code Enforcement Officer(CEO).  The Selectmen unanimously offered enthusiastic congratulations to Bailey for her accomplishment.
The next Board meeting will be held August 2, 2021 at 6:00pm.