Fall dates and events of interest

    As fall approaches, the following items from our calendar in the Tax/Clerk office may be of interest to citizens.
    The first important date on the tax calendar is Oct. 15, 2008, which is the last day for payment of 2008 real estate and personal property taxes without interest. Interest starts to accrue on unpaid tax balances for 2008 on the following day.  The interest rate for the 2008 tax bills was set at 11 percent earlier this year. If you pay your tax account balance on or before Oct. 15, 2008, you will avoid any interest charges on your account.
    However, if your tax account is enrolled in a tax club, you do not have to be concerned about this date. Taxclub members are allowed to make their tax payments in 12 monthly installments. You will have until the end of the year to pay the balance of your account without incurring any interest charges or penalties, if the account is enrolled in a tax club.
    If your real estate taxes are escrowed with a mortgage company, now is a good time for you to confirm whether a disbursement has been made to pay your 2008 property taxes. The disbursement may appear on your recent mortgage activity statement. Or you can call the Tax/Clerk office and verify if an escrow payment has been received and posted to your tax account. In the event your escrow disbursement is received after the interest date, the mortgage company should cover any interest charges that accrue on your account, unless of course you were somehow responsible for the delay.
    The next date on our tax calendar is Oct. 24, 2008, which is the automatic foreclosure date for the 2006 municipal tax liens. Notices will be mailed to those taxpayers and to parties of interest on or about Sept. 16, 2008 to remind them of the impending automatic foreclosure of the tax lien. Parties of interest include mortgagees and other lien holders of record. The property which was subject to assessment on the original tax bill will become tax acquired if the 2006 tax lien balance is not paid in full by the end of the business day on Oct. 24, 2008.
    For accounts with a 2006 tax lien outstanding, we want to clarify that only the 2006 tax balance must be paid by the automatic foreclosure date in order to avoid having the property become tax acquired. If the 2006 tax lien balance is paid in full by Oct. 24, 2008, the taxpayer will have additional time to pay the remaining 2007 and 2008 real estate taxes. However, interest charges will continue to accrue on the remaining tax balances.
    On the City Clerk calendar, preparations are well underway for the upcoming national election on Nov. 4, 2008. A record voter turnout is expected, and this means a record number of absentee ballots being cast this year as well.
    City Clerk, Nancy Nichols and Deputy City Clerk, Linda Brewer will be attending the upcoming Secretary of State’s 2008 Elections Conference in Bangor, along with Registrar of Voters, Virginia Packard and Deputy Registrar, Margaret Erwin. Topics to be covered at the conference include the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and new election laws, absentee voting, managing voter lists and records, and petition certification. The group will be well positioned to handle various election duties and activities during the next two months.
    Nomination papers are available at the City Clerk’s office for the upcoming municipal election. The following vacancies are open to be filled: City Council (2 seats); SAD 1 School Board members for Section 5 (3-year term); Section 9 (3-year term); and Section 14 (1-year term.) The deadline for the return of nomination papers is Sept. 19, 2008 no later than 5 p.m.
    We will be well prepared in advance for whenever absentee ballot requests start coming in. The City Clerk will be devoting much of her time to processing absentee ballots in the weeks leading up to the election. Election workers and City staff are looking forward to assisting Presque Isle voters.
    To all who are interested, the City of Presque Isle annual report for the year 2007 has been released to the public. Copies are available at the front desk and you can pick one up during our regular business hours from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
    Deborah Ouellette is tax collector for the city of Presque Isle. She is also acting BMV agent for the city of Presque Isle. She can be reached by telephone at (207) 764-2509 and by e-mail at douellette@presqueisleme.us.