Madawaska officials are seeking to change the town’s assessing service to speed up the tax commitment process.
The town usually commits taxes at the end of the year. Last year, for example, the town set the mill rate in mid-November.
The Select Board wants to get tax bills out sooner and has heard from residents that November is late, Town Manager David Daigle said.
The town has money in its budget to hire an assessor to transition to an August billing date, he said.
Lewis Cousins, who is Presque Isle’s tax assessor, also handles Madawaska’s assessing services but has been overwhelmed, Daigle said. Still, Cousins has already started this year’s tax assessment and has said he could finish the process in August.
Daigle asked the Select Board if they would consider keeping Cousins on for the current year, provided the taxes are ready for commitment by August, to help with the transition.
The town has also transitioned to a more robust version of TRIO accounting software, which includes more checks and balances, according to Daigle. He described the program as intuitive and said it will work more efficiently as more data is entered.
Select Board member Renee Deschaine asked if Madawaska Finance Director Caryl Albert was involved with interviewing potential new assessors.
She has not, Daigle said, adding that he has been handling research.
Deschaine favored Albert meeting and interviewing candidates.
“Caryl’s recommendation is going to be heavy on our decision,” Deschaine said. “We need to know that there’s a comfort level [Albert has] as finance director with this person.”
Daigle offered to provide more information at the next Select Board meeting.
Deschaine asked if they would be able to stick to the August deadline, and Daigle said they could possibly hit it sooner. Both agreed that they did not want to send out tax bills right around the holiday season again, because it’s not good for residents.
Albert said she would prefer to see Cousins stay on board during the transition so the town could ask him any questions instead of being left on their own.
Select Board members agreed, but took no action.
