7157-R1_ML&P_Hollis_2018-2019_AnnualReport_Text

Town of Hollis 34 Town Farm Road Hollis, ME 04042 Telephone (207) 929-8552 www.hollismaine.org

ASSESSING

Debra A. Stitson

OFFICE

Assessor

REPORT FOR FISCAL YEAR JULY 1, 2018 TO JUNE 30, 2019

Taxes for the 2018-19 fiscal year were committed on October 10, 2018. The tax rate was $13.25 per thousand dollars of value. Total appropriations for the 2018-19 Fiscal Year were as follows: County Tax $ 247,605.61 Municipal Appropriations $3,370,661.85 TIF Financing Plan $1,438,308.51 Local Education Appropriation $4,266,802.89 Overlay $ 26,546.95 Total Appropriations $9,349,925.81 At the end of the fiscal year, the GIS Mapping Project was nearly complete. Much work was still needed on our end to update and correct our databases before transferring to the new assessing program and turning it over to Bartlett Assessing Services who is working on the revaluation. Although both projects continue to consume a great deal of my time, I would like to thank Tammy Thompson for the tremendous amount of time she has also dedicated to these projects. Quite often I am asked about the Warrant Article regarding the Tax Levy Limit. “ A property tax levy limit has been established for the Town by State Law in the amount of $X,XXX,XXX.XX; in the event that the municipal appropriations approved by the voters exceed that limit, shall the Town vote to increase the property tax levy limit?” (As it applies to Hollis, the Tax Levy is the total amount of municipal appropriations approved by the voters less all of the approved revenues. The Tax Levy Limit is the amount that the Tax Levy may not exceed.) Every year you are asked to vote on this warrant article though it may be difficult to understand. Hopefully, I can shed some light on this. The Tax Levy Limit, often referred to as L.D. 1, was filed with the 122 nd Legislature in December of 2004 and became law in 2005. The official title of the bill is “An Act to Increase the State Share of Education Costs, Reduce Property Taxes and Reduce Government Spending at All Levels.” It was originally designed to stabilize the rise of taxes by limiting increases in appropriations to that of increases in revenues which are derived from growth rather than additional taxation. For example, any additional State spending needs to be supported by additional sales or income taxes which are attributed to increased purchasing and earnings rather than from an increase in the sales or income tax rates. If the State, a county, a municipal government, or a school administrative unit exceeds its Tax Levy Limit, a secondary vote would have to be taken and passed by the legislative body to approve surpassing the Limit. As with most laws there have been amendments since its

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