Bayville and Isle of Springs haven’t dumped tea overboard, but residents of these seasonal hamlets don’t want to pay the same taxes other Boothbay Harbor property owners have to pay.
A century ago the Maine Legislature set up scores of village corporations across the state. They were legal entities – or oddities, depending on your point of view – with limited governing power. These “villages” typically consisted of summer cottages, and owners’ needs and expenses differed from those of year-round townspeople. But for some people in Boothbay Harbor, letting them pay only 40 per cent of what other folks pay sticks in the craw. The Town Manager calls it an “inequity.”
Village corporation and Boothbay Harbor officials have so far met a couple of times to discuss their options, one of which is secession from the town. It’s not unheard of: in 1993,the Legislature allowed Long Island in Casco Bay separated from Portland to become a town. Five years ago, Frye Island in Sebago Lake left Standish to stand alone, and this year Chebeague and other Casco Bay islands have been looking at secession from their respective mainland communities.
But it’s not a sure thing. In 1999, the Legislature turned down Greenings Island’s bid to secede from Southwest Harbor, when islanders sought to avoid high property taxes.
In Boothbay Harbor, residents at town meeting authorized $30,000 to repeal or amend a law that requires the town to return 60 percent of property taxes to Isle of Springs, an island in the Sheepscot River estuary; and to Bayville, a section of town fronting on Linekin Bay. Both places are among the handful of remaining village corporations in Maine. Both Bayville and Isle of Springs are refunded 60 per cent of their tax bills. Isle of Springs, at least, must use the money for wharves, roads or other municipal work.
Isle of Springs and Bayville residents believe they deserve their special status. Roland Miller, president of the Isle of Springs Association, told voters at the meeting that the island location means the town provides almost no services. And being seasonal residents, Isle of Springs taxpayers put no demands on schools or winter plowing. Miller, who with his wife, Judith, winters in Lenox, Massachusetts, said the association will defend itself against any attempt to alter its tax status.
Miller, a retired school superintendent, said “we look on this as revenue sharing. Our 40 per cent goes for ambulance service, schools. The fact we’re paying 40 per cent (about $35,000 in their case) should be recognized. Realistically, the host community can’t provide a lot of services… we think islands are unique.”
Thirty-five families summer on 90-acre Isle of Springs, a five-minute boat ride from the mainland. The money returned by the town, he said, is put toward the village’s annual maintenance budget. There are a post office, one truck and various garden carts on Isle of Springs, which has a summer-only water system. The island takes its name from seven springs, and the association also owns nearby Powderhorn Island and two smaller islands. Isle of Springs residents own their houses but the land is leased from the association.
Jim Coleman, head of Bayville Village Corporation, thinks some Boothbay Harbor residents are convinced he and others get a tax break. Taxes returned to Bayville have never been rebated to individuals, he said. The money has always been used for community maintenance and improvement. He said Bayville residents are good neighbors who give money to civic causes such as the YMCA, and that for the $45,000 they pay in taxes, the only services they get are tax collection, a harbormaster and building inspector – who charges fees. Fire and local police protection is paid for, at an hourly rate, by the village corporation. Total valuation for Bayville’s 42 properties is around $12 million. Ten families are year-round; none have children in school. In the past, Bayville has paid tuition.
Coleman, a retired business executive from Massachusetts, said, “we’re very happy with the way things are.” But if town officials insist on a change, he believes Bayville will likely secede from Boothbay Harbor and become a town in its own right. Bayville already handles most of a town’s responsibilities, he said.
Boothbay Harbor town manager Carlo Pilgrim favors changing the tax policy. “I feel that there is a tax inequity. Everybody here has a responsibility to pay their taxes.” Rebates, he said, “may have served their purpose years ago. But our culture has changed, our way of thinking, our perceptions have changed.”
Pilgrim has no quarrel with the existence of village corporations. “They are our neighbors. They are our friends. That’s not the point. That’s not the issue. The issue is equity.” He cited the case of a resident who lives a quarter-mile down a private road and has no town water or sewer. But he still must pay 100 per cent of his property tax.
Pilgrim said the town ambulance serves Bayville, and if emergency medical staff were needed on Isle of Springs, they would find a way to get there.
At last year’s town meeting, some Boothbay Harbor voters argued that the 60 per cent refund is unfair. It has been a perennial protest, which this year led to the article seeking $30,000 for town legal expenses. That item passed on a 63-42 vote. The town hired professional lobbyists Jon Doyle and Kay Rand to work on its behalf. More meetings between the parties are scheduled, and if differences aren’t resolved, the matter could be headed for the Legislature, where the corporations were first created.
Southport, next door to Boothbay Harbor, has two long-established village corporations. Squirrel Island receives a 75 per cent tax rebate, while Capitol Island, connected to the mainland, gets back 60 per cent of its taxes.