Several meaty items up for discussion Monday 11-23-09, 6 pm at the Paris selectmen's meeting.
The deadline for applications for the new town manager position was, according to the 11-19 Advertiser Democrat, Sunday the 22nd. Selectmen will meet in executive session starting at 6pm to review the applications. The regular meeting will start as soon as they finish the review.
Among the items included will be: bids for the fire dept.'s water tanker; snow removal bids; recall petitions submitted;
...and approval and signing of a special town meeting warrant for December 3.
The Paris Reporter has posted several articles about the hurry-up-and-do-this approach of the current town administration on certain items, and Article #2 on the proposed warrant is a case in point:
To see if the Town will vote to transfer a sum not to exceed $225,000 from the Undesignated Fund Balance to a Town of Paris Equalization Account to undergo a town wide revaluation in 2010 to take effect with the tax commitment for 2010-2011.
There is certainly a need to take corrective measures regarding the current tax assessment situation in Paris. Current Tax Assessor John Brushwein has said publicly on more than one occasion that there are numerous errors and inequities.
But consider:
"...undergo a town wide revaluation in 2010 to take effect with the tax commitment for 2010-2011."
1. In order for this to take effect with the 2010-2011 tax commitment, the entire revaluation must be complete by March 31, 2010;
2. At most - 3 months to complete every property in Paris;
3. Land will be snow covered - how accurate can this be to determine land in swamp areas, etc.;
4. Formal bid proposals should be sent to several bidders and references required from the bidders. Low bidder may not be most qualified with best references. Proposal should outline town's expectations for what will be done, when to complete, how property owners will be notified this will be happening, when to meet with property owners after new assessments are done and before actual commitment takes place (many people go south during these 3 months);
5. Paris's last revaluation was done in house by non professionals and we know the results. Rushing this process through will compound the problems;
6. Planning and budgeting for the revaluation to be complete for the 2011-2012 commitment would allow 2 budget years and revaluation to be complete by March 31, 2011. (By state law, April 1 is the cutoff date for property values for commitment).
It would appear that, if done correctly, a revaluation process is demanding, complex and, above all, time consuming. If, in the interest of having an in depth job done in a shorter time period than a single tax assessor could manage on his own, and a quality assessing firm is considered for hire, then financing that move is critical for a small town like Paris.
What motives could there be for trying to push through this process without proper planning and responsible budgeting for the possible $225,000 price tag?
Why would the selectmen want to push Interim Mgr. Thorne to come up with financing schemes that rely on questionable logic and predictions in order to accomplish the unattainable goal of revaluation of the whole town, start to finish, in 3 months?
A look at Thorne's proposed use of the surplus of Excise Tax Revenues as a major source for part of the $225,000 shows not an increase in revenues over the years, but a decrease. (Note column "Actual.") His use of the 2009-2010 amount $551,813 is not accurate, because it was not an anticipated budget figure; rather it was the amount of revenues received as of 4-29-09.
Thorne's suggestion to possibly run an overlay of $100,000 to pay for the remainder of the $225,000 simply means higher taxes for Paris citizens next year; "overlay" uses a formula that relates directly back to mil rate, the mechanism that determines higher or lower taxes.
It is trap for any management to forget that a budget figure on paper does not automatically equal that amount being at the ready for immediate use; municipal revenue is often in tax money to come in over a period of time. Taking huge chunks of unbudgeted money out all at once, e.g., the $225,000, can severely affect cash flow.
As for his other option of coming up with the rest of the money next year by not increasing the Excise Tax Revenue projection "...and expect[ing] the [anticipated]surplus to be sufficient to pay the remainder of the revaluation cost...", this is little more than playing the possibilities. What kind of fiscal responsibility is this?
Why? Why? Why the rush, gentlemen? These things you want rushed through, have to be done before... what?
