FORT KENT, Maine — The Fort Kent Town Council on Wednesday set the town’s mill rate to 23.85, a 0.9 increase over the previous year’s mill rate of 22.95.
For a home and property worth $200,000, the new rate will result in $4,770 in annual taxes, or a $180 increase over the previous year.
On the day before the meeting, voters in Fort Kent rejected the second MSAD 27 school budget proposal. This budget is about $7,000 lower than the school budget that voters approved last year.
School officials will need to present a third budget to voters later this year, but because the town is on a timeline, it could not wait longer to set its mill rate.
Residents will have about a month to pay their taxes before interest begins to accumulate. Town Manager Suzie Paradis said that if the town didn’t set the mill rate during this week’s meeting, it would move back tax liens and foreclosures to the following year.
Last year, the town set its mill rate on July 22.
The recently approved rate of 23.85 will stand if the second budget proposed by MSAD 27 stays the same. The council made this decision because it is unclear how much the third school budget will be reduced.
Any difference between the second and third school budget will be used to offset the following year’s taxes.
This was the lowest mill rate the town could set while still maintaining a workable overlay, Paradis said. If the figure had been set to 23.72, the overlay would have been $2,000. Now, that figure is $39,000.
Earlier this year, residents approved a slight budget increase during Fort Kent’s annual town meeting. The total tax commitment approved during the town meeting was $6.96 million, or about $9.5 million without factoring in revenues. The total for school, county and other agencies was roughly $5 million.
The total municipal budget for the year, which does not include the school or county expenses, was about $4.5 million. The town saw a $263,063 increase over last year’s municipal budget of $4.3 million.
The higher number came from increases across the board, such as health insurance and 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustments, Paradis said.
