FORT FAIRFIELD, Maine — Fort Fairfield residents will pay lower property taxes for the second year in a row.
The Fort Fairfield Town Council voted Wednesday to ratify a 20.792 mill rate, which is about 3.5 mills lower than last year’s and 5.5 mills less than in 2022.
City officials set the mill rate at 20.25 during a special council meeting and public hearing on Sept. 30. But when Town Manager Tim Goff ran a tax bill audit, there was an error: the projected revenue didn’t match what was budgeted. Raising the rate half a mill will bring the town just slightly below revenue expectations and provide savings to residents, Goff said.
“Every tax bill will be about $50 less per $1,000 of taxes owed,” Goff said. “It leaves us a bit tighter than we would like to be, but it puts [money] back in people’s pockets at a time when people are struggling.”
Owners of property valued at $100,000 would have paid $2,425 last year. Under the new rate, they will pay $2,079. Councilors voted unanimously to set the new rate. Tax bills will go out this week and taxes are due Feb. 1.
In other business, the town’s rechargeable battery recycling program is making national waves, Aroostook Waste Solutions board member Stev Rogeski said.
“We actually made a national magazine because we’re the first in the country to do this,” Rogeski said. “They’re tracking what we’re doing here to see if they can do more models like it somewhere else.”
There are businesses that offer battery collection, but Fort Fairfield is the first municipality to do so, he said. The effort appeared in Kitchener, Ontario-based Ground News and in Waste Advantage magazine in Florida.
Manufacturers and businesses are required to recycle the batteries under Maine law, but consumers don’t have to, according to the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
The DEP directs consumers to Georgia-based Call2Recycle, which offers free collection kiosks at some stores, recycling centers and landfills, and people can ship batteries to the company free for recycling.
Fort Fairfield was chosen to pilot its municipal recycling program to reduce fires at the Tri-Community Landfill caused by lithium batteries. There have been at least six fires in recent months — three in September alone — caused by chemical reactions from leaking lithium.
The landfill partners with Call2Recycle on the free program, which provides specially designed drums to store the power cells safely outdoors. The landfill ships them to the recycling company.
Fort Fairfield residents can recycle batteries under 11 pounds, Goff said. People can come to the town office and leave the batteries in their vehicles, and staff will come out to help them with the batteries.
Councilors approved the transfer of $2,829 in seized drug proceeds to the Fort Fairfield Police Department, to be used for future drug enforcement training.
The Fort Fairfield Public Library’s roof needs immediate repair, but no contractor was available to replace its slate roof, Goff said. The library received a King Grant of $20,000 for the roof and will have asphalt shingles installed instead.
The town and Maine Preservation would have preferred a slate replacement, but using asphalt material will not affect the building’s place on the National Register of Historic Places, Goff said.
During public comment, resident and former town manager Dan Foster praised council and staff’s work to return to a solvent position after years of financial struggles. He thanked outgoing councilors Kevin Pelletier and Jim Ouellette for their service.
The polls will be open from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5. Absentee ballots must be received by Thursday, Oct. 31.
The next council meeting will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at the council chambers.
