[Adopted as Ch. II, Art. 3]
[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.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: Former Sec. 4, Assessment Coordination Committee Established, which immediately followed this subsection, was repealed 10-28-1991 by Ord. No. 91-372.
[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.