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Unorganized territories update: Penobscot County hears state official on school transport, property valuations and bridge funding
Summary
Harold ‘Chip’ Jones, the state financial administrator for unorganized territories, briefed the commissioners on recent statutory changes, property‑valuation reviews, school-transport rules and bridge funding that affect UT budgets and services.
Harold “Chip” Jones, financial administrator for Maine’s unorganized territories (UTs), told the Penobscot County Commissioners on June 17 that he is pushing to elevate UT needs within state processes and to secure funding to cover education and infrastructure costs.
Jones said the state Department of Education recently changed a rule to allow parents or other private individuals to be paid mileage to transport students in remote UT areas when contract providers are not available. He described the change as a potential cost savings compared with lengthy contracted routes, noting that transporting a single student by contract can cost “$75,000 to $80,000” per school year in extreme cases.
Jones described several statutory and administrative topics affecting UTs: the removal of a fixed minimum petitioner threshold in the law that previously required “no less than 10 registered voters” to petition to deorganize; the long‑standing gap in general purpose education aid for UT students (the statewide target is commonly described as a 55% funding share, but UTs historically have not benefited equivalently); and bridge and road maintenance responsibilities, which in UTs have been transferred to the county and the state’s capital‑improvement support can cover “50% of capital improvements or 1% of the municipality’s collective property value, whichever is less,” subject to available funding.
Jones said UTs are being underfunded relative to the property valuations recently completed by the Maine Revenue Service (MRS). He noted that some lakefront properties saw very large valuation increases this review cycle — comments at the meeting put some waterfront valuation increases in the “230–250%” range — and that the subsequent tax impacts caused an unusual amount of public concern in several UTs. Jones described the MRS review schedule as five‑year for more populated UTs and ten‑year otherwise, and said this year’s revaluation was done because the districts were “so far off.”
On local infrastructure, Jones said Penobscot County currently has two bridges for which it is responsible in the UTs (a million-dollar bridge in Grand Falls and the bridge on Scribe Lake Road were mentioned). He encouraged county officials to inventory bridges early to allow MaineDOT to consider them in biannual budgeting cycles.
Jones closed by offering the UT office as a resource to county officials and residents and by noting that capital and education funding adjustments could free resources for local infrastructure projects if the UTs can capture a greater share of state education funding.
Why it matters: The financial and statutory clarifications affect county budgeting for education and capital improvements in the unorganized territories, where the county is the municipal authority for many services and where revenue and valuation changes can create fiscal strain for small communities.
What the commissioners asked for: Several commissioners asked for follow-up information about the MRS valuation process and potential appeals; Jones said MRS had scheduled local appointments and that property owners could seek abatements and, if necessary, pursue appeals through the court system. Commissioners also asked Jones to participate in county meetings and educational sessions this fall.
