HARTLAND — The town’s landmark tannery is caught up on its property taxes six months after it was sold amid bankruptcy proceedings.
Also, an arrangement the tannery’s new owner made with the town won’t cause the tax rate to increase, as was previously thought.
Town Manager Susan Frost said the tannery appears to be doing well financially less than a year after it faced the prospect of bankruptcy and possible closure.
“They’re paying their bills and as far as I know, it’s going good,” Frost said. “We’re getting paid on time.”
According to the website of Tasman Leather Group, LLC — the new name of the tannery operation following the sale — the plant specializes in producing premium side leather for the U.S. military. Website photos show black leather boots.
Voters at a special town meeting on Feb. 12 approved a deal with Tasman Industries 196-15, clearing the last remaining hurdle to the $6.5 million sale.
On March 3, the tannery paid off a late property bill of $71,288 for the fiscal year of July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2011, according to town records. That payment has caught the tannery up on its unpaid bills, according to Frost.
The first half of the town’s 2011-12 tax bill is due Sept. 15 and the second half is due March 1. Frost said the tannery owes the same amount — $71,288 — during that billing cycle.
While the tannery’s up-to-date tax payment provides a needed source of revenue for the town, there’s also now good financial news for citizens, Frost said.
At the special meeting, residents approved a cost-sharing arrangement for the wastewater treatment and pollution-control plant, to which the tannery is the biggest contributor. The new arrangement was expected to cost the town slightly more than previously — an increase in the town’s share of running the plant — increasing town taxes by $24 per $50,000 of property value.
But the town’s mill rate isn’t going up after all, Frost said, because the town’s tax base has grown because of property value increases. The rate is $23.60 per $1,000 of property value.
“We maintained it at 23.6 mills, even though we were changing the sharing percentage, due to the (property) valuation we picked up on new buildings.”
For instance, a new cell tower was recently constructed in Hartland, adding new taxable value, Frost said.
Prime Tanning, which had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last November, might have shuttered the tannery’s doors if the court-approved sale had failed. Kentucky-based Tasman Industries completed its $6.5 million purchase of the leather-producing operations as part of the court proceedings.
Tasman officials say the company maintains values of a “family business” even as it has grown to become the largest processor of cattle hides in the world. According to Tasman officials, the company has about 500 employees worldwide and has a dozen processing facilities that produce 140,000 hides per week. It also owns a tannery in Hartford, Wis., where finished leather is made.
Tasman officials had previously said they intended to meet with Hartland selectmen six to eight months after the sale was complete to update them, but no meeting has happened, Frost said.
Tasman Industries officials said this week they did not have time to discuss the Hartland tannery, which employs about 150.
Aaron Tasman, a company director, said in an email message sent Friday, “We are very excited and proud to have manufacturing of leather in the United States, and we intend to keep it that way for a long time to come.”
Norman Tasman, president of Tasman Industries, said Friday he was too busy to discuss the tannery.
According to a story published May 6 in Leather International Magazine, Norman Tasman said the Hartland tannery processes “wet-blue” mainly for the footwear, upper-leather market, but he planned to also move production into the upholstery leather sector, including automotive markets.
“Now is the time for the workers at the tannery to show us what they can really do. The tannery has changed ownership several times in recent years and now is the time to build the tannery up to capacity,” Tasman was quoted as saying. “Our aim is to bring the tannery up to its 20 million-square-foot capacity.”
Scott Monroe — 861-9239
smonroe@centralmaine.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
