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BY DOUG HARLOW
Staff Writer 09/08/2008

MADISON -- Selectmen tonight hope to get some answers to why their county taxes have spiked so dramatically this year and if their local property valuations have anything to do with the increase.

The meeting of the Board of Selectmen is set for 6:30 p.m. at the former Old Point Avenue school.

Town Manager Norman Dean said Philip Roy, chairman of the Somerset County commissioners, has been invited to the meeting, as has William Van Tuinen, the town's assistant to the assessors.

Dean said construction of the new Somerset County Jail and the hiring of several new county administrators and technicians appear to have sent local tax rates sky high.

"The 12-month budget -- the town of Madison's share of the county budget -- is more than the previous 12-month budget -- from $668,000 last year to over $1 million," Dean said. "There's the new jail and they hired six or eight new people at the county that they didn't have before.

"That all costs money. It's quite a jump."

Dean said in 2007, county taxes amounted to 9.7 percent of the town's overall budget for the 12-month period. This year, Madison is paying 15.3 percent of its overall budget to the county.

The county also changed the way it taxes its member communities this year, going from a calendar-year approach -- January to December -- to a fiscal year -- July 1 to June 30 each year. The result is an 18-month tax bill, further burdening county communities.

The 18-month tax bill to Somerset County for the town of Madison sits at $1.3 million, Dean said.

Dean said selectmen will also want to hear from Van Tuinen concerning the valuations of personal property in Madison.

"Every year, the taxes of the county are based on valuations of the town, versus the total valuation of the county," he said. "So any given year, as our individual town valuation changes, our commitment may change."

Doug Harlow -- 474-9534, Ext. 342

dharlow@centralmaine.com

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