Once again, for 2015 we in the assessing office have completed the task we are assigned, and are back on schedule at that. It certainly has been an interesting year with so much happening locally and at the state level.
As I’m sure every taxpayer has noticed, property values did not change from 2014 to 2015 in Presque Isle. The mil rate did rise 4 cents from 25.42 to 25.46 due to the increase in the County assessment. Your City Council and school administrators were able to live within the valuation created by existing and new growth to create 2015 budgets that do not add to the property tax burden. In this day of increased costs and reduced funding they have performed miracles from my perspective.
The Maine Legislature and Governor have had their state budget discussions, so to speak, and the final answer for 2015 is the Homestead Exemption will remain at $10,000 for all qualified citizens. We have kept on file all of the responses taxpayers over 65 submitted to prove age and will be prepared should the age question come up again in the future. As it stands, the Legislature has also set the Homestead Exemption to rise to $15,000 for year 2016, and $20,000 for 2017 for all qualified citizens.
We encourage folks who own and occupy a primary residence within the bounds of Presque Isle to be sure you are receiving this exemption. By all means, stop by the assessing office if you do not see it listed on your tax bill.
The veteran’s exemption remains unchanged; every veteran who served in a war period and has reached the age of 62 is eligible for a $6,000 reduction in value on their primary residence as well. As with the Homestead Exemption, we hope every qualified resident takes advantage of any and all exemptions they deserve. We will assist you with the applications for these tax relief programs, with pleasure.
Moving forward, now that we are back on schedule, we do plan to resume quarterly site visits to update your records here in the tax office. Our intent is to be certain the information used to base the property assessments on is accurate. In some cases we may find upgrades or additions that occurred unnoticed over time. In other cases we may find that the buildings have deteriorated more than we were aware of and the condition needs to be adjusted downwards. Either way, our goal is to ensure your assessment is equal to all the other properties like yours and that all taxpayers are treated equitably.
We look forward to visiting and chatting with you in the future.
As always, we in the assessing office encourage every property owner to stop in to review their property records here at City Hall, have a chat with us, and ask any related questions that you may be concerned about. Marria and I have a constant goal to have the records as complete and current as possible in order to distribute the tax burden as fairly as we can.
Also, much progress has been made in the past year to prepare our property records for online service. Kim has created many digital sketches to date and soon will be adding digital photos to the cards. Once complete, every person will be able to review their records from their home computer. Although there is much work still to be done, we have made significant advances toward that goal.
Thank you to everyone who has supported our efforts in the past year. We appreciate all the cooperation so many property owners have given in answering our questions and providing us the information we need to be fair to everyone.
Lewis Cousins is Presque Isle’s assessor. He can be reached at 760-2714 or via email at lcousins@presqueisleme.us.
