It’s town meeting time, town reports are out and flipping through the pages of any given report, it is possible to see the name of a selectman, or a candidate for the board of selectmen, on the “unpaid property taxes” or “outstanding lien accounts” list.
Does it matter?
A survey of several town office administrators in Lincoln County revealed it’s not a big deal, and a few selectmen weighed in on the topic.
When Billie Willard ran for the first selectman’s seat in Alna, “I was two years in arrears and had a lien on my property,” she said. “Nobody said anything. I’m up to date now.”
People go through hard times, Willard said. “You can have a bad year because of your business, your health. I’ve bought my house back from the town a couple of times,” and it hasn’t affected her ability to do her job, she said.
In Whitefield, chairman of the board Steve McCormick said, “It doesn’t bother me” if a town official or candidate is behind in taxes. “Everyone has hard times, especially right now.”
Selectman Kurt E. Miller said he’s been late with payments, including the year he first ran. Sifting through a mountain of papers at the board’s regular meeting, he laughed, “If that’s all it takes to be dismissed, that’s an easy out!”
Even road commissioner David Boynton, informed his name was on the 2006-07 outstanding taxes list along with Miller’s, said, “I was? I’m not now, am I?”
In Dresden, Bremen and Somerville, town clerks responded with “there might have been one” to “we’ve had a couple of people who ran and who were late paying their taxes” and “yes, we have a person on the board who is in arrears now but usually pays by the lien date.”
The information published for all to see may leave a negative impression, but in terms of suitability to serve, the consensus was “it doesn’t make a difference.”
Michael Starn, communications director at Maine Municipal Association, said the situation is “not a disqualifying factor.” Qualifications to run for selectman are minimal, he pointed out, relating to age (at least 18), being a citizen of Maine and resident of the town.
“There probably are a lot of people who are having difficulties paying all kinds of bills, including tax bills,” Sarn said. “It doesn’t mean (a candidate in that predicament) wouldn’t make a good selectman.”
That said, Starn added, “It doesn’t relieve him of the obligation to pay his tax bill.”
