FARMINGDALE — Most Farmingdale residents will not see an increase in their tax bills this year.
The Board of Selectmen recently set the tax rate at $13.80 per $1,000 of assessed valuation, the same as it was last year.
That works out a a tax bill of about $690 per $50,000 of property value.
Board of Selectmen Chairman Rickey McKenna said the biggest reason the tax rate has not increased is because Central Maine Power Co. is being taxed this year on property in Farmingdale that the power company purchased, as well as on equipment it is using while it works on the Farmingdale corridor of a 350-mile transmission line upgrade called the Maine Power Reliability Project.
CMP spokesman John Carroll said the company has been doing a lot of construction in Farmingdale, including the new 345-volt transmission line and other sections of line.
The company also purchased the Kennebec Heights Country Club property in town to widen a transmission line corridor.
“We actually pay taxes on real estate on all of our plants,” Carroll said. “In many towns, we’re frequently the largest taxpayer.”
The town will not be able to tax CMP on the equipment next year when the work is completed.
In addition, McKenna said, the town is in the last year of a five-year plan to re-evaluate property and has found homes that have not been assessed correctly, which has resulted in a tax increase for some homeowners whose property values have increased.
McKenna said the town’s vote to keep two full-time foreign-language teachers and one-half of a school nurse position that was cut from the Regional School Unit 2 budget did not affect taxes.
Voters unanimously agreed at the June town meeting to spend $51,723 to pay for Farmingdale’s portion of the cost of two teachers for kindergarten through grade six and the school nurse. The Hallowell City Council approved a tax increase to prevent the cuts.
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