HODGDON, Maine — Residents of Cary Plantation gathered at Hodgdon Middle-High School Monday evening to approve warrant articles and hear an update on the deorganization plan as part of the annual town meeting.
A group of about 30 residents gathered at the high school and spent roughly an hour getting updated on the deorganization effort and approving a municipal budget in the amount of $297,770.
Tina Libby, deputy clerk and chairman of the deorganization committee, said the budget was down slightly from last year, but still funds the majority of items needed for the town.
The town has been waiting patiently since Jan. 23 to hear if their dissolution plans will be approved. Libby said the town’s deorganization measure remains with the Appropriations Committee in Augusta, waiting for approval before going to a final vote in the Maine Senate.
“We are in a holding pattern right now,” she said. “It is on the table of the Appropriations Committee, but it hasn’t happened yet because of all the snow days they had in Augusta. Hopefully it will get pushed through committee sometime this week and go back to the Senate for a final vote. Hopefully it is not a case that it went there (committee) to die.”
Selectman Jeremy Hiltz listens to questions from the audience Monday evening during the Cary town meeting. (Joseph Cyr)
The community has just two pieces of town-owned property that will need to be disposed of as part of the dissolution process. It does not own any equipment nor have any debt to settle.
If the plan is approved by the Legislature, residents will need to have a final vote on the matter in November, Libby said.
Paul Bernier, director of public works for the Unorganized Territory, and Lisa Whynot, Unorganized Territory supervisor, both attended Monday night’s town meeting to give updates on what the next steps would be, provided the plan passes in Augusta.
Bernier said that adding on Cary’s 13 miles of roads for winter plowing and summer maintenance was not a big concern at The County level. He said he was confident that a local contractor could handle the workload of plowing, but that the process would require The County putting out a request for bids first.
Whynot said one of the biggest issues that should be resolved is the large amount of unpaid taxes in the town. According to the 2018 town report, there was $58,133 in delinquent taxes for 2017.
“It is really important, if you haven’t paid your taxes now, that you should make sure they are paid,” Whynot said. “Any payments you are making will be applied to the old tax bill first.”
Libby added that if residents paid their back taxes now, that money could be used to repair town roads. If delinquent taxes are paid after the deorganization, that money would go wherever it is needed in Aroostook County and not necessarily used to improve Cary.
All of the properties in Cary also would be re-evaluated to determine their value for property tax purposes. Whynot said that while the town’s mill rate will definitely go down, there is a possibility that some of the properties in town could see their values adjusted higher than the current level.
“Once we get the values all figured out, we will then meet with anyone who wants to talk about their property values,” she said.
Back in October, Cary residents voted 85-6 to pursue deorganization for the second time in as many years. In March, 2016, the state denied Cary’s initial request to dissolve, citing the town’s population as a deciding factor. The 2010 Census pegged the population at 218 residents.
Of the 42 towns that have deorganized in the last century, few had more than 100 residents at the time.
As part of the process of disbanding, Libby said the town had to perform its own census, to give an accurate number of residents to the Legislative committee. That census, conducted Jan. 16, revealed there are 189 residents, including children, in the community.
In addition, Libby said, the town has had to fix several road issues and still has to repair a double culvert on the Wilcox Road before it will meet with the approval of Bernier. That project could cost a considerable amount of money and is something the town is not willing to do if the deorganization is not approved.
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- Deputy Town Clerk Tina Libby gives an update on the town’s deorganization plans during Monday night’s annual town meeting. (Joseph Cyr)
