[Amended 10-28-1991 by Ord. No. 91-372; 9-14-1998 by Ord. No. 98-339]
In accordance with Article
VII, Section 2(a), of the City Charter, there is hereby established an Assessing Department. The Assessing Department shall consist of a single Assessor, as provided in 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2552, Subsection 1C, and such assistants and clerical personnel as the City Council may authorize.
It shall be the function of this Department:
A. Establish property valuations. To establish equitable
valuations on all property, both real and personal, for the purpose
of taxation.
B. Prepare assessment rolls. To prepare all work in connection
with the preparation of all assessment rolls and levy taxes therefrom.
C. Abatement records. To keep a record of abatement of
taxes which shall at any time be allowed. This record shall contain
the name of the persons whose taxes may be abated, in whole or in
part, the amount originally assessed and the amount abated, with the
reason for the abatement, and said record shall be open to the inspection
of any person who may be interested therein.
[Amended 10-28-1991 by Ord. No. 91-372]
A. Appointment and qualification. The City's single Assessor
shall be appointed by order of the City Council for a term not to
exceed five years. No person shall be appointed to the office unless,
at the time of appointment, they have been certified as a professional
Assessor for the State Bureau of Taxation in accordance with 36 M.R.S.A.
§ 310 et seq., as amended.
B. Powers and duties. The City's single Assessor shall
exercise all powers and duties of Municipal Tax Assessor under the
Constitution and the laws of the State of Maine. The Assessor shall
also serve as department head of the City's Assessing Department and
shall supervise the work of any Assistant Assessors and clerical staff
of the Assessing Department.
[Amended 6-28-1993 by Ord. No. 93-274]
Pursuant to 30-A M.R.S.A. § 2552,
Subsection 2, there is hereby established a Board of Assessment Review.
The Board shall consist of five members and two associate members
appointed by the City Council for terms of three years each; provided,
however, that in the first instance two members shall be appointed
for a term of one year, two members shall be appointed for a term
of two years and one member, together with both associate members,
shall be appointed for a term of three years. Each member shall serve
without compensation and serve until their successor is appointed.
Associate members shall attend all meetings of the Board of Assessment
Review and, in the absence of regular members of the Board, shall
be entitled to vote on all matters pending before the Board and to
otherwise perform the duties of regular Board members. Associate members
shall not vote or be counted toward a quorum with respect to any previously
continued abatement appeal unless the associate member was present
at every prior meeting of the Board at which substantive oral testimony
was offered by any party with respect to the appeal concerned.