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By MATTHEW STONE
Staff Writer

GARDINER -- They considered putting off the implementation of a citywide property revaluation for one year.

Then they pondered what it would mean to base the revaluation on 90 percent of properties' newly appraised values.

But in the end, Gardiner city councilors Wednesday night informally decided against straying from the originally planned path of the revaluation.

The councilors' decision followed a lengthy discussion in which they quizzed city assessor Curt Lebel and officials from the Massachusetts company hired to conduct the revaluation about how they calculated property values and when they planned to inform residents if their appraisals have been adjusted.

The councilors did not vote on the decision.

In the end, support for a one-year delay appeared slim.

And Councilor Richard Rambo appeared to be alone in his support for basing new property appraisals on 90 percent of the newly appraised values.

That move would have forced the city to boost its property tax rate in order to collect the same amount in taxes it needs to meet budgeted obligations.

Rambo argued such a move would provide the city with a buffer in case the revaluation overestimated property values.

"It doesn't impact the equity and it allows for a margin of error," he said.

But Councilor Richard Nickless questioned the value of such a move.

"We arrived at an equitable situation," he said. "If my house is valued at $100,000, I'm not sure what I would gain by saying it's $85,000."

"Whatever you do, you're going to pay the same taxes because you have the same piece of the pie," Councilor Martha Mentall said.

Mayor Andrew MacLean has said 82 percent of Gardiner homes would rise in value and assume a higher tax obligation as a result of the appraisal.

Councilor Bryan Blanchard urged officials to scrap the revaluation altogether, saying not enough city homes have been sold in the past year to be able to determine property values.

"This is like inviting a physician to do a full checkup on a body he hasn't seen," Blanchard said. "If we're mature about it, we ought to be stepping back."

Vision Appraisal Technology officials at Wednesday's meeting told councilors they made 596 adjustments to their original appraisals. Overall, the adjustments decreased the city's cumulative property value by nearly $10.4 million.

"There are quite a few properties we didn't get into," project manager Paul McKenney said. "We do make our best assumption of what's in that property and sometimes we guess wrong."

McKenney said he held 437 hearings with individual property owners concerned about their properties' reassessment. Appraisers ultimately changed the values for mobile homes and for a number of properties along the Kennebec River.

"I think by and large these were individual property issues," Lebel told the councilors. "That's really what we're looking to catch during those hearings."

Mentall said appraisers mistakenly noted the fireplaces in her home carried gas furnaces. She said she wrote, as she was instructed, to Vision Appraisal officials requesting they correct the error.

"I have not received any answers, any comment, any acknowledgment of the letter," she said.

Lebel said property owners whose appraisals are changing would receive notification next week.

Matthew Stone $ 623-3811, Ext. 435
mstone@centralmaine.com