Although they disagreed on the merits of the special town meeting warrant article, Westport Island residents Mario DePietro (left) and Bill Hopkins discuss the issue in a neighborly fashion after casting their ballots Saturday, Feb. 24. (Charlotte Boynton photo)
After nearly two hours of debate on a single warrant article, Westport Island voters ended up with a tie vote, 37-37, at their special town meeting Saturday, Feb. 24.
The article, proposing to eliminate the town’s elected board of assessors and replace it with a single office of an assessor to be appointed and overseen by the select board, failed for the lack of a majority.
During the debate, Westport Island residents expressed strong opposition against the change. As is the case with many Maine small towns, Westport Island’s select board also serves as the town’s board of assessors.
Westport Island residents opposing the article included former select board members George Richardson Jr. and Jack Swanton as well as Bill Hopkins, E. Davies Allan, Richard DeVries, Cheryl Anderson, and others.
Richardson told the assembled he had been a select board member and on the board of assessors for 32 years, and in his opinion the system works well. During his years on the board, when a taxpayer appealed their assessment to the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners, the decision was most always in favor of the town.
“We must have been doing something right,” Richardson said. “In some cases change is good. I see no reason to change the assessing process now.”
Swanton argued the elected select board should be making the decisions on assessing issues.
Hopkins reminded the select board the board of assessors was part of the duties of being elected to serve, and suggested if they didn’t want to do the job, step down and let someone else do the job.
Allan asked the voters to vote against the article. DeVries was clear in expressing that the board of assessors should not be changed and remind the select board members the responsibility of the select board. Anderson said she was disappointed in the select board in not fulfilling the duties of the office they were elected to.
Select board members Donna Curry, Jeff Tarbox, and Lisa Johansson responded to the issues from the concerned voters regarding their duties to the town.
Curry, the board’s chair, said it was a wake-up call for her when the board had to factor the value of all town properties upward by 22% for the 2023 property taxes to resolve the divergence of the state and local valuations in order to allow the town to receive 100% of the state reimbursements.
Tarbox said it is the responsibility of the select board to ensure all taxpayers are treated fairly, and when the town factors increase property valuations across the board, in his opinion it is not fair to all taxpayers, because some of those properties valuations may not have increased, and other properties may have increased more than the amount factored.
“Factoring is not being fair to all taxpayers,” Tarbox said.
Johansen, serving her first term on the board, said she has experienced a learning curve and there is a lot to learn in assessing. She said she felt an experienced assessor would be better for the town and better for the taxpayers.
Residents speaking in favor of the article included former Squire Tarbox Inn owner Mario DePietro, Barbara Cray, and Janet Thompson.
DePietro said he had no problem with the old system of assessing, but thought the new system being proposed would be better for the town.
Thompson commended the select board for bringing the question before the town, saying, in her opinion the select board is not shirking their responsibilities, as some had suggested, but they are accepting their responsibilities by trying to do something different for the town and they have explained why they are asking for this change.
Cray, an attorney, told the voters assessors are required to have a certain level of expertise and skill in valuing properties, similar to appraisers.
According to Cray, in the last 20 years the standards and considerations for valuing properties have become far more complex, and if the select board feel they need this expertise to help them in their job that is “eminently fair.”
Westport Island resident Jason Kates made a motion to amend the article to require the review and approval of the proposed hours and salary of the assessor by the voters at the annual town meeting in June. The amendment was approved following a brief discussion.
After two hours of discussion, residents voted on the question, resulting in the 37-37 tie. After the ballots were counted and the results were announced, moderator Chris Cooper thanked the voters for their patience, consideration of each other and their serious consideration of the article throughout the meeting.
“You are all winners here today,” he said.
