CAMDEN — Camden and Rockport municipal staff and town leaders have been talking for several years about working more closely together, and now the two towns will, pending Camden Select Board approval, share the services of their property assessing talent.

“It is a way to be more efficient,” said Kerry Leichtman, Rockport assessor. “We are looking to get the work done in a quality way.”

At their Dec. 16 meeting, the Camden Select Board will consider appointing Leichtman as Camden’s Assessors’ Agent. He will continue working full-time in Rockport, but will head over to Camden during his own time, Monday through Thursday, and help Beth Doan, who is currently Camden’s assistant assessor’s agent.

The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Washington Street Meeting Room. It begins with a public hearing and then special town meeting vote concerning a sewer bond (see below).

“It’s kind of hybrid in that I am supervising Beth, who is doing most of the physical work,” said Leichtman. “Beth and I are working together. She is a certified Maine assessor but doesn’t have the experience. So we are rounding that out.”

If approved, Leichtman’s contract will be $500 per week.

Assessing properties in town is a quietly important function of municipal government, given that the budgets of local public education,public safety, county government and general town government rely on taxing the land, houses and businesses.

Assessors and assessors’ agents work in the background, and make their property visits constantly throughout the year in order to get the valuations ready for the annual setting of taxes.

Depending on how much a house or piece of land is valued determines how much a property owner will be taxed in a given year. Currently, Camden’s total valuation is $1.1 billion and the mil rate is $14.43, meaning each piece of property is taxed $14.43 per $1,000 of valuation. Rockport's total valuation is just bout $1 billion and its mil rate is $12.99 per $1,000 of property value.

Last spring, after Camden’s assessor Wes Richardson retired, Town Manager Patricia Finnegan contracted with Jim Murphy, Jr., and Leichtman to ready the town for the 2014 tax commitment.

Murphy contracts with Union and Warren, as well as other towns, for his assessing skills.

During that four-month period, Beth Doan also assisted in the commitment preparation.

And, during that time, the two towns started talking about better synchronizing the systems.

“We are staying open-minded to what extent we merge the two towns,” said Leichtman. “At a minimum, we are going to standardize the system so that Rockport and Camden are assessing with the same methods. For example, there is a difference between the two towns in even the terminology we use. We will standardize the codes and categorization processes. With the more data we have, the more precisely we can assess.”

He said the two towns are “staying strategically open-minded.”

“I think we are developing a working model,” said Leichtman. “People in the profession are getting older, and it is harder to get assessors.”

In other town business

Camden will hold a public hearing at the Dec. 16 meeting regarding a proposed bond issue not to exceed $550,000 for a capital improvement project consisting of upgrades to the sewer treatment plant, Sea Street pump station and Mt. Battie pump station.

The bond is to pay for work that has already been under way, and consists of upgrading the two pump stations that were built in 1969. The money will also pay for installing a tanker truck receiving station at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“The pump stations have far exceeded the 25 year average life cycle of a pump station,” said Finnegan, Dec. 12. “That is a testament to the waste water facility staff, including recently retired Superintendent Ross Parker, for the work they have done to maintain these facilities and equipment in such good condition.”

The Sea Street and Mt. Battie pump stations were designed by Wright Pierce Engineers. The general contractor is Apex Construction, of Rochester N.H.  Apex was the general contractor on the Rawson Avenue and Bayview Street pump station upgrades.  

Following the public hearing, the Select Board will hold a vote on the bond proposal.

And following that, the board will hear from the School Administrative District board about the proposed $28 million Camden-Rockport Middle School building project. A vote on that project is scheduled for Feb. 10 for Camden and Rockport citizens.

The board will also consider 2015 harbor fees recommended by the Harbor Committee for commercial fishermen and day sailers.

Select Board meetings are broadcast live on Time Warner Channel 22, and are are streamed over the Internet at townhallstreams.com/locations/camden-me.

Reach Editorial Director Lynda Clancy at lyndaclancy@penbaypilot.com; 207-706-6657