A group of Gray residents has launched an effort to secede from the town and join Raymond.
The residents live in neighborhoods to the west of Little Sebago Lake. They say they are separated from Gray by the lake and identify more with Raymond, which is adjacent to the neighborhoods and provides fire and rescue services. They also cite dissatisfaction with Gray town councilors and Gray’s higher property tax rate as reasons for the effort.
Gray’s tax rate is $18.30 per $1,000 of assessed property value, while Raymond’s rate is $11.95 per $1,000.
A secession committee formally notified the town of Gray about the effort in late January. Committee members publicly announced the effort in a news release on Monday, saying they are creating a map of the proposed secession area and will soon begin collecting signatures of residents who support the idea of secession.
If more than half of the registered voters living within the area sign on to the petition, the committee would present the petition to Gray and could seek the support of the Maine Legislature, which would need to pass a state law to authorize secession.
The geographical area that could be part of the secession includes Little Sebago Lodges Association, Gore Road, Deer Acres, Brown Road, Lyons Point and Northern Oaks, according to the group’s Facebook page.
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