Queen Bees
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Winners emerge at Songo Locks Elementary and Molly Ockett Middle School
Inside News
Fryeburg Academy senior Silas Eastman claims his third straight Sassi Memorial title
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www.bridgton.com Vol. 144, No. 5
Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. 24 PAGES - 2 Sections
Bridgton, Maine
January 31, 2013
(USPS 065-020)
SIXTY CENTS
Bridgton faces $372,778 state reduction
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer The town of Bridgton faces a game-changing $372,778 loss in state revenues to be applied to its municipal budget under Governor Paul LePage’s state budget plan, Town Manager Mitch Berkowitz told the Bridgton Board of Selectmen Jan. 22. Another $39,000 shortfall is projected from Bridgton’s 34% share of the SAD 61 edu-
cation budget, which faces a total district loss of $114,000. In total, the potential loss of state revenues for FY 2014 is $411,778. “This is a game-changer. We need to understand what this will mean for Bridgton,” Berkowitz told the board. He called the governor’s plan to balance the state budget using revenue sources that towns have traditionally relied upon to lessen the impact on local
property taxpayers “a replay of the fiscal cliff” that could fundamentally change the relationship between towns and the state. He supplied the board with a memo from the Maine Municipal Association that called the cuts in local services or increases in property taxes that will result from LePage’s “extremely serious,” representing an unprecedented violation of “nearly every significant financial agreement
that has been struck over the last 80-plus years between state and local government as currently codified in statute.” LePage has proposed $420 million in cuts over the next two years to municipal revenue sharing, general assistance, Homestead Exemption, business equipment tax exemption, circuit breaker property tax relief and motor vehicle excise taxes. “The governor’s proposal
delivers a double whammy to all property taxpayers in this state by first jacking up the property tax rate in a variety of ways and then eviscerating the programs that are designed to help people who are having trouble paying their property taxes,” the MMA’s letter to the towns states. Berkowitz said in a later telephone interview that he’s beginning to hear from legislators that LePage’s bud-
Impacts of the state cut
Grant helps to stock pantries
By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — While working for Preble Street Resource Center 10 years ago, Brie White spent almost one-fourth of her time driving a 16-passenger van and collecting food for the facility’s kitchen. Frequently, it crossed her mind that transportation was the biggest challenge to efficiently supplying nonprofit kitchens and food pantries. More than a year ago, as an employee of PROP working with the Good Shepherd Food-Bank, “It really struck me that 10 years later there was the same obstacle: transportation,” she said. So, White designed a program to transport food from warehouses to rural communities using trucks already on the road. Then, White approached many town managers in rural communities with her idea. “I got a lot of, ‘Go and prove yourself and come back in a year,’ ” she said. Finally, she coordinated her food-transportation plan with Naples Town Manager Derik Goodine. With an annual contribution of $1,500, the pilot program took off in Naples and Casco. Later, the Town of Bridgton joined. According to White, “In the first year, we saw an increase in food moved to Naples of 30 percent.” There have been 5,000 visits to the three food pantries; and those visits are not just indi- WOW WAS THAT WATER COLD! — Although jumpers found the icy waters of Highland Lake in Bridgton quite a shock to viduals but also families, she the system, the frigid moment was worth it during Saturday’s annual Freezing for a Reason. Pledge money to benefit Harvest Hills Animal Shelter will likely surpass the $16,000 mark. See story on Page 12A. (Rivet Photos) CUPBOARD, Page 12A
Landlord throws in towel as units go to auction
TOO MUCH TO HANDLE — Nelson Henry looked on bleakly during the Jan. 17 foreclosure sale of all five of his rental properties in Bridgton.
get-balancing plan “will be DOA” after its full impact is reviewed by the Appropriations Committee in Augusta. And he suspects that at least some of what LePage has proposed may turn out to be little more than “posturing” that isn’t expected to become the law. However, he said towns must estimate their budgets based on anticipated revenues, and that’s why he has drawn up a STATE FUNDS, Page 12A
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer It was bitter cold Jan. 17 as landlord Nelson Henry stood in the driveway of his three-unit apartment house at 533 Main Street in Bridgton. He stood apart from the small gathering, wearing a headset, waiting for the beginning of the foreclosure auction of four rental properties in town and a fifth rental property in Casco. Just 10 minutes after it had begun, the auction was over; and a disappointed Henry was left still owing on the mortgages he held with Maine Capital Mortgage for rental apartments at 533 Main Street, 16 Walker Street, 396 Main Street and 37 Main Street, Bridgton; as well as two mobile homes at 3 Hancock Road in Casco. Mortgage banker Shawn Lyden of Coastal Realty Capital, Portland, bought all five prop-
erties for $55,000. All but the house at 16 Walker Street went for $10,000 each — just $5,000 over the minimum bid. With the Walker Street property, Lyden had competition from Bridgton resident Laura Chadbourne, who owns property next door. Lyden had to pay $15,000 for that property, but he didn’t seem to mind. “It’s pretty nice to buy a house for $10,000,” Lyden said. The assessed value of the properties ranged from $54,790 for the two mobile homes in Casco, to $158,793 for the four-unit multifamily home at 37 Main Street. The total assessed value of all five properties tops $400,000. In attendance at the auction were several Bridgton residents, including Chadbourne, who have been advocating for the town to adopt a sub-standard housing ordinance to force landlords like Henry to fix safety and
health violations at their rental units. The house at 16 Walker Street was deemed as unlivable by a judge in a dispute between Henry and a tenant, but continues to be rented despite the contention by neighbors that the house’s septic system is failing, causing sewerage to seep onto their properties. Henry, who is a dentist, freely admitted that the strain of being an absentee landlord became “too much for little me to handle.” He got seriously behind on his mortgage payments, leading to the foreclosure auction conducted by James R. St. Jean Auctioneers. Henry owed back taxes on several of the properties, which contain a total of 16 rental units. “I just had a tough time, and my shelf life had been extended beyond the five years,” Henry said. “I wanted to get out of it, but I didn’t get anything” from
the auction, he said. “It was kind of a waste.” Henry had acquired the properties over the past decade or more, and when the Bridgton News ran a story about substandard housing in Bridgton, he spoke of the challenges landlords like him have in renting to low-income tenants who often “let things slide.” In years when he’s had a reliable handyman working for him, problems were minimal, he said. Lacking that, maintenance issues and vandalism to the units tend to pile up, he said.
By Gail Geraghty Staff Writer Bridgton is taking an early lead role among Maine towns in crying foul over a proposal by Gov. Paul LePage that would strip $420 million over the next two years either from municipal government directly or from the property taxpayers that support municipal government. After sending a stronglyworded letter to legislative leaders Jan. 15, Town Manager Mitch Berkowitz followed up by creating a memo showing how the cuts would affect Bridgton and the FY 2014 budget review, now underway. Berkowitz is projecting revenue losses of $372,778 in the municipal budget, and $411,778 overall, once the $39,000 loss in state support for education is figured in. The impact on the tax rate from the revenue losses would be between 37–55 cents per $1,000 of valuation for the municipal budget and between 41–59 cents per $1,000 of valuation for the total budget, Berkowitz has estimated, based on the budget he presented to selectmen Jan. 8. His FY 2014 budget is $6,444,085, reflecting an increase over 2013 of about $566,000. The biggest loss — $250,000 — would be in municipal revenue sharing funds, by which the state redistributes 5% of all sales and income taxes it collects. But Bridgton also faces a potential loss of reimbursement of $90,430 under LePage’s plan to eliminate the Homestead Exemption for homeowners under age 65. Bridgton has 1,316 taxpayers currently receiving a $10,000 deduction from their property valuation under the program. LePage’s plan would increase the exemption amount for those age 65 and older to $20,000. The town faces a net potential loss of $11,148 in general assistance, said Berkowitz, under LePage’s plan to cap total state spending on general assistance through June 30 at $10.1 million, which is about $1.5 million less than last year. LePage’s cuts to general assistance are an effort to close a $112 million Medicaid shortfall. Other revenue reductions projected by Berkowitz for Bridgton are $1,200 in exempIMPACTS, Page 12A
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