I'd rather have an honest liberal

[luckyleftyme2]

have you ever noticed how a repuke wants all the benefits but always is trying to squeeze out of his fair share?
well here is an example of cronyism to the nth power:
Bill Nemitz: Money didn't fall far from the trees

Just over two weeks ago, in one of his almost-daily email assaults on the Maine State Housing Authority, state Treasurer Bruce Poliquin made a plea on behalf of the beleaguered Maine taxpayer.


Related headlines
Legislators hope to tighten tree-growth tax break, citing Poliquin case
AIRING IT OUT


Tune in to NewsRadio 560 WGAN at 8:08 a.m. today to hear columnist Bill Nemitz talk about this column and other issues

“Maine taxpayers also pay federal and local taxes, all of which are used to build MSHA low-income apartments,” he noted. “All of it is our hard-earned money. It doesn’t grow on trees.”

Except, that is, in the treasurer’s own backyard.

Poliquin, already under the Maine attorney general’s microscope because his private business activities appear to run afoul of a constitutional ban on moonlighting by the state treasurer, now has more explaining to do. This time, it’s about how much he pays in local property taxes.

Or, to be more accurate, how little.

The story, broken this week by the website Maine’s Majority, goes like this:

Back in 2004, Poliquin applied for a tax abatement on his oceanfront mansion and surrounding 12 acres on a secluded peninsula in coastal Georgetown. Specifically, he wanted the town to drop the assessed value of his property from $2.8 million to $1.7 million.

The town said no.

Poliquin then appealed to the Sagadahoc County commissioners.

They, too, refused.

Ah, but all was not lost. That same year, Poliquin hired a licensed forester, put together a “management plan” for the 10 wooded acres behind his house and, with the town’s approval, saved himself a bundle by enrolling the property in Maine’s Tree Growth Tax program.

What’s that, you ask?

The Maine Forest Service, which oversees the program, explains it thusly on its website: “To enroll your property in the Maine Tree Growth Tax program, you must have at least ten acres of forest land managed primarily for the production of commercial forest products.”

The website also explains how the program is designed to “broadly support Maine’s woods products industry” by giving woodlot owners a property-tax break in exchange for the stimulus their wood harvesting operations provide the local economy.

Financially, it worked out rather nicely for Poliquin. By putting 10 of his 12 acres in tree growth in 2004, he dropped the overall assessed value of his land from $1,768,600 to $725,500 with the simple stroke of a pen.

For the 2011-12 tax year, that land has a total value of $943,500 – of which the 10 acres in tree growth account for a paltry $4,300.

And how does that translate into actual property taxes?

According to Georgetown’s property records, Poliquin’s tax bill is $6,668 on the two acres directly beneath his humble abode. (Taxes on the house and other structures total just over $13,000).

And the annual tax on the 10 acres of prime oceanfront land just behind the mansion?

That would be $30.53.

You read that right. The owner of what one state report calls “one of the most valuable residential lots in the State of Maine” pays less in taxes on the lion’s share of that land than a struggling family of four might pay for a rare night out at the pizza parlor.

this ain't all this ahole has pulled! time to apply the heat! call in my markers and drive it home!
resignation hell no -pin stripes are called for!

[CurtEastPoint]

1. The delightfully frugal and deceptive Mr. Poliquin...

[mactime]

2. Question

“To enroll your property in the Maine Tree Growth Tax program, you must have at least ten acres of forest land managed primarily for the production of commercial forest products.”

if that is not the case, then clearly this is a violation

[luckyleftyme2]

3. look at the drop in value

orginally valued at $2.8 million reduced to $725,000 by 2004 and in 2011-22012 year it was $943,500.
I mean come on who was involved besides him? this is tax evasion at its finest!
someone turned their head! someone greased the wheel! he owes his fellow tax payers of georgetown a hell of a lot of moola!

[luckyleftyme2]

4. more from a ridiculous liberal

more from a ridiculous liberal

That would be $30.53.

You read that right. The owner of what one state report calls “one of the most valuable residential lots in the State of Maine” pays less in taxes on the lion’s share of that land than a struggling family of four might pay for a rare night out at the pizza parlor.

So how, pray tell, is Poliquin’s management of those 10 acres supporting the wood products industry and, by extension, the local economy?

Good question.

For starters, there’s a covenant in his deed that states, “Trees may be thinned only for purposes of view, and the environment shall be completely protected at all times from the excessive cutting of trees.”

Then there’s Poliquin’s own 2004 application for a tax abatement, in which he backed up his request with the assertion that “my lot cannot be used for any commercial purposes.”

Finally, there’s a lengthy report to the Legislature’s Taxation Committee on Maine’s Tree Growth Tax Law by a Maine Forest Service task force.

Conducted in 2009, the analysis was aimed in part at probing “the perception that some land is being classified under the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law that does not meet the statutory requirement or purpose of the law.”

The 32-page report includes nine examples, compiled by the Maine Municipal Association, of what the organization considered “problematic enrollment” in the Tree Growth Tax Law program.
Example No. 3, lo and behold, is Poliquin’s property in Georgetown.

“For several reasons, including difficulty of road access and the restrictions on timber harvesting according to the state’s shoreland zoning regulations, the ability to harvest any timber on this property – even if that was the interest of the landowner – is extremely limited,” the report says.

Yet from those trees, Poliquin has harvested one heck of a cash pile. If his 10 “tree growth” acres were assigned the same $469,600-per-acre value as his two adjacent “home site” acres, that $30.53 tax bill would balloon to somewhere around $33,000 a year.

now if you were not connected that would be considered a felony offense;you probably would be charged for filing a false report to evade taxes!
I mean come on people =who slipped this through? this isn't the only thing being brought up about this person and he's not the average citizen he holds a very important post in this state. would you say he passes the ethical qualifications to hold such a post? does appearence as a nice guy all the qualifications to hold this job? hey you know what they say about smart guys! some of the highest IQ'S ARE BEHIND BARS!
FOR MY MONEY TAR AND FEATHERS PLUS RESIGNATION IS THE LEAST HE SHOULD GET!
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[luckyleftyme2]

5. this is to big to sweep under the rug

this is by far the most blantant act I have seen of welfare! yes I said welfare here is an individual slashing the safety nets of mainers while screwing the very public he is sworn to protect! And if Le page or his administration tries to sweep this under the rug I say we all start a class action suit!
If this person(notice I omitted man) had an ounce of decentcy he would resign before he brings the wrath of hell down on the capital in Augusta!
talk about mal-function junction! this is the fities all over again!

[luckyleftyme2]

6. after a little research we have a ball park figure of his deceit

It has been written in several places that since 2004 he has saves approx. $5,000 a year or $35-40,000 dollars.
well I wonder what the interest is on that and penalty because no way does that
piece of property meet the letter of the law!
this is a flagrant breech of the abatement rules! to begin with he has a coveant on this property to keep the cutting to a minimum. that would elminate a comercial harvest! It smells to high heaven and it should be retracted.