Taxable value of the mill dropped $600,000 due to sudden and sever loss formula
STATE HOUSE- A bill to address the recent mill closure in Jay was heard today by the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation. Sponsored by Rep. Sheila Lyman (R- Livermore Falls), LD 1954, “An Act to Address the Recent Mill Closure in the Town of Jay by Providing Funds to Offset Property Tax Loss” proposes a one-time appropriation of $600,000 to the Town of Jay to help offset a property tax revenue loss from a recent mill closure. Rep. Lyman represents the people of Jay and two other communities in the House of Representatives.
“The $600,000 revenue sharing shortfall this year will be overwhelming to many of the people in ay, especially on the heels of the recent announcement of the Mill closure,” said Rep. Lyman. “I can’t begin to express the economic hardships and financial difficulties that the closure of our local mill has brought to our area. When the Jay Mill digester blew up in April 2020, the taxable value of the Mill dropped from $271 million to $86 million. Due to the loss in taxable value, the town responsibly used its Rainy Day Fund to minimize what would have been a huge tax rate increase – something that that would have crippled most taxpayers, especially those whose jobs were impacted. Despite that responsible attempt to offset the loss, Jay later learned that by using monies from the Rainy Day Fund, the Town will lose $600,000 in revenue sharing due to an unintended effect of the Sudden & Severe Valuation Loss formula.”
To assist the Town of Jay, my bill (LD 1954) directs the Maine State Treasurer to provide a one-time $600,000 adjustment to what would have received from Revenue Sharing if the Town had not used monies from their Rainy Day fund to stave off a tax increase to their citizens.
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