Damariscotta, Maine
Town of
Damariscotta
21 School St
Damariscotta,
ME 04543
207.563.5168
207.563.6862 (Fax)
Hours:
Mon., Tue., Thu. & Fri.:
9AM - 5PM
Wed.: 1 - 6PM
Assessing Department
Gary R. Robbins, CMA
assessor@damariscottame.comThis office retains all records of Town maps in the Municipal Building where property assessment information is available to general public, including:
1. Tax mapsa. Click here to open Tax Map page
b. Or stop in to the Town Office to view or purchase a set2.Commitment Books as of April 1, 2005
a. Click here to download book
b. Or stop in to the Town Office to view or purchase it3. Transfer Tax forms indicating sales information
4. Deeds
5. Septic Designs
These records may be examined anytime during normal business hours, and copies are available for the following fees:
Regular copies 8 ½ x 11 - $0.25/page
Copies of 11 x 17 - $1.00/page
Maps - $1.00/page
Full Book Maps - $20.00
Full Commitment Book - $100.00
Due to the high volume of inquiries, information available by telephone is limited to basic assessment data. If you require more than Map and Lot, Location, Owner, Assessment, or Book and Page-please visit our Town Office.
General Tax Information:
Tax rate: $12.20 per thousand dollars of valuation for Fiscal year 2007.
Due Dates: October 2, 2006 and April 2, 2007
Interest rate: 6.75%
Fiscal year: July 1 to June 30
Assessment Date: April 1, 2006
Commitment Date: Typically the first week of August
Assessment ratio: 100%
Public counter: The Assessor's Office is located in the Town office. The office maintains a public counter at which assessment information is available, including tax maps, valuation listings according to name and according to map/lot, sales lists, property cards. These may be examined during regular office hours and copies are available for a reasonable fee.
Abatement Applications
Directions
After a tax bill has been issued the process of a taxpayer requesting a reduction in the tax on property is to request an abatement. This is a written request for a reduction in the valuation of property on which the tax of the property was calculated. The request should be specific and should state the particular reduction in valuation that is requested and the reasons why it is requested.
Generally speaking, requests for abatement take a couple of forms. One type of request is that the valuation of the property is in excess of the market value of the property. In this type of request, the applicant might support the request for an abatement of taxes based upon what recent sales of similar properties in the area have been or based upon a recent appraisal, submitted with the abatement request, of the property. Such a request might be based upon corrected information, such as the corrected size of the structure or the surveyed size of the land parcel, or information that might not have been readily available, such as recorded restrictions on how the land parcel can be utilized.
A second type of request is based upon a comparison of the assessed valuation of your property with the assessed valuation of similar property in town. If the taxpayer can demonstrate that their property is valued excessively compared to the assessed value of similar property in the community, this can provide the basis of an abatement.
Abatement requests need to be made within 185 days of the date of commitment of taxes.
Abatement requests must be filed with the Board of Assessors at the address above.
The Assessors have 60 days after the receipt of a written request to make a decision on the request. The taxpayer can appeal the decision of the Assessors if the abatement request is denied or if an abatement in an amount smaller than requested is granted. Such an appeal in Damariscotta is filed with the Lincoln County Commissioners.
If you are of the opinion that your tax valuation is too high and should be reduced, you must make a written request for an abatement. It is the process outlined by Maine law and it provides you with an appeal procedure if your request is denied.
Additional information on property tax abatement and appeal procedures is available in Property Tax Bulletin Number 10. This is available from Maine Revenue Services property tax division at 207-287-2011.
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