A town at the edge of the North Maine Woods is considering shutting down one of Aroostook County’s few remaining police departments.
Ashland will hold a public hearing and special town meeting vote next week to decide whether to close its police department at the end of the year.
It’s becoming a familiar scenario as Maine towns weigh budget constraints and struggle to staff local departments. Should Ashland’s department close, it would leave The County with just six municipal police departments and shift policing duties for yet another town to the Maine State Police and Aroostook County Sheriff’s Office.
In the last six years, five small Maine towns have dissolved their municipal departments, largely because of recruiting difficulties. Millinocket closed in 2020, followed by Van Buren in 2021, Limestone in 2023, Washburn in 2024 and Mexico last year.
For Ashland, a town of 1,200, the challenge boils down to two choices: fund a police department with a $503,000 budget, according to the March town meeting warrant, or slash the next year’s budget and potentially cut property taxes.
The choice came up at the Oct. 19 Town Council meeting, when the group referred to residents’ property tax concerns.
Ashland’s 2026 mill rate is 20.93, with a state valuation of $115.1 million, according to state records. That valuation is up from $104.9 million in 2025, which means property taxes can rise.
“How do we go about finding out if the police department is a viable department to fund in the future based on what the tax rates have gone up to be?” Councilor Kevin Robinson asked. “And is that something that needs to be looked at?”
The key is knowing whether or not residents want to pay for the department, Council Chairperson Sherri Calhoun said.
“The middle ground is, is there a way to have a police department that’s half the price of the police department we have now,” she said. “But they told us last year it wasn’t possible.”
Councilor Tyler Michaud suggested a public hearing, which the group approved.
The special town meeting warrant, posted Wednesday on the Facebook page The Ashland, Maine Bulletin, states that residents will be asked “to see if the town will vote to continue operating a municipal police department effective January 1, 2027.”
If the article doesn’t pass, the department will be dissolved on Dec. 31.
Police Chief Michael Montpetit has written several posts on the same page highlighting statistics and tasks of the department. From Jan. 1 to Oct. 20, the department logged 2,562 service calls and made 211 traffic stops, he wrote Tuesday.
“I am fighting this fight because I know how badly the people of Ashland need us here,” he stated. “The future of an essential service is far too important to be taken lightly.”
Service calls such as animal control, assisting older residents and being present at school would go way if the department closes, which is no fault of the sheriff’s deputies and state troopers, who simply don’t have time to cover community needs, he wrote.
Earlier this year, Montpetit told the Bangor Daily News he worried Ashland could be the next town to close its department, which employs three full-time officers, himself included, and six reserve staff.
Neither Montpetit nor Town Manager Alicia Burby immediately responded to requests for comment.
The hearing is slated at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 4, at the Ashland Recreation Center. The special town meeting will follow on Thursday, Nov. 5, at the same time and place.