State's Preliminary Revaluations Put Trenton at $591 million
Cheer donation sent back, board also talks about school reorganization
TRENTON—The state of Maine has preliminarily decided that Trenton is worth approximately $591,950,000.
That’s up by approximately $163 million from 2023 and $87 million from last year’s assessment.
Trenton may be heading toward a revaluation in its property after receiving a preliminary revaluation report from the state. The town has valued itself at $309,275,880.
That difference has the town at a 62.66% standards ratio.
In order to receive state money, the town’s properties have to be within 70 to 110% of the fair market worth. In order to receive certain state funding, school money, homestead exemption reimbursement, BETE reimbursement, and other funds, the town’s assessments must be within the state valuation percentage.
When the market value on property increases, the sales ratio changes. This can make the town move out of that range.
The state values Bar Harbor at $2.9 billion; Cranberry Isles at $238 million; Ellsworth at $1.7 billion; Mount Desert at $3.3 billion; Southwest Harbor at $1.1 billion; Swans Island at $213 million; and Tremont at $814 million.
State valuation is determined by meeting with local officials, field work, and “the approximate ratio of full value on which local assessments are made, and by then adjusting the local assessed values” to accord with the state’s rules (08-125 Chapter 201), the state says. The state’s valuation is a “mass appraisal estimate of the 100% market value of all the town’s taxable property. Each year the state tax assessor does this.
According to Trenton Select Board member Dan Monahan, “We have been out of compliance in the past and recently did an assessment adjustment this year (raising everyone’s assessment value by a certain percentage) to buy us some time to save up for a full town-wide revaluation.”
The last town-wide revaluation was in 1989. Assessments are ideally done every ten years.
Currently, Maine has the highest property tax burden in the country. Approximately 4.9 percent of personal income is used for property taxes.
Some Mount Desert Island towns, like Southwest Harbor, are considering looking at sales assessments every three-years (or other intervals) to avoid massive adjustments.
The group discussed affordable housing and being pushed off the island for housing affordability and then people moving from Trenton for the same reason. Many of the Trenton Select Board members grew up on Mount Desert Island.
CHEERING DONATION RETURNED
In a quick October 1 meeting, the Trenton Select Board also decided to not take a check meant to be donated from Hinckley Company to the cheer program run by Amanda Daley. The check was meant to pay for cheering uniforms and if presented to the town would have been tax-deductible.
“This year I have worked alongside the Trenton Parks and Rec department to bring youth cheerleading back to life,” Daley wrote in a letter to the Select Board.
The program is free and Daley volunteers, pays for music costs, competition entrance fees, and the bows costs for the 18 girls currently enrolled. Uniforms cost approximately $100 each.
“The program we have put together allows any child in Pre-K through fifth grade to join for free (Trenton residents) or just $10 for any child outside of Trenton,” Daley wrote.
All the other donations to the program have been given to Daley, who has been fundraising for the team, town officials said.
Concerns were raised about opening floodgates for other donations and extra work for the town’s staff.
The Parks and Recreation Committee Chair Chip Roskom announced that he will be stepping down as chair at the committee’s next meeting. Town Administrator and Municipal Clerk Carol Walsh said to just send her a quick email to formalize that.
BUDGET AND REORGANIZATION
The Select Board members also quickly spoke to what Trenton’s debt burden might be if it and the island towns reorganized into an RSU. They spoke to how debt incurred by the individual school districts (such as Bar Harbor’s multi-million dollar Conners Emerson School rebuild) would potentially impact budgets in other towns.
Select Board Chair Fred Ehrlenbach referenced the current formula for funding the Mount Desert Island High School which is mostly determined by the town’s valuation and then its student population.
“How is that fair?” one Select Board member asked.
“There are some positives (to reorganization). This isn’t one of them,” Selectman Charles Farley said. The town’s high special education budget may lower if the services are shared, he said, and those students may have more resources available to them.
Ehrlenbach said that the Trenton budget could still be less even with paying Bar Harbor debt for the Conners Emerson School
“The kicker is going to be what Mount Desert does,” Ehrlenbach said.
LINKS TO LEARN MORE
Information regarding the reorganization planning committee, the process, and the history can be found under “AOS Reorganization” on the right side of the MDIRSS website.
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