THOMASTON, Maine — A reduction in state aid and higher school costs are behind a 5 percent hike in the town’s property tax rate.
The Thomaston board of assessors met Tuesday night and set the tax rate at $16.80, up 5 percent from last year’s rate of $15.98.
Taxes on a home assessed at $150,000 will increase $123 from $2,397 to $2,520.
The first half of the tax bill is due Dec. 3 and the second half on June 3.
Bills are expected to be mailed in a couple of weeks.
Thomaston Assessors Agent David Martucci noted the town is projected to receive $50,000 less state revenue sharing aid than the past year.
In addition, the town’s share of the Regional School Unit 13 Board rose between 3 and 4 percent, reaching slightly more than $3.2 million. The net municipal appropriations is about $2 million, up 1 percent while the payment to Knox County is nearly $350,000, a slight increase from a year ago, Martucci said.
Dragon Products, which operates a cement plant off Route 1, is the largest property taxpayer in town with an assessment of more than $15 million and taxes of more than $250,000.
No problem. All the residents of Thomaston have to do is go into work tomorrow and tell their employer that their taxes went up, so that means it is time for their pay to go up. Surely any employer with a conscience wouldn’t begrudge their employees a tiny cost of living raise? Unless, of course, you work for McDonald’s, Burger King, WalMart, KMart, Target, Marden’s, Wendy’s, Pizza Hut, any convenience store in Maine, Dunkin’ Donuts, etc., etc., etc. Then your out of luck. The only time these fine icons of business give a raise is when the government puts a gun to their head every ten years or so by bumping up the minimum wage a couple of pennies.