Whether it is a case of too much too soon or too little too late depends on the view of the property owner. What is clear is the revaluation of properties in Casco shows inherent deficiencies in how towns are required to revalue property tax assessments.

The trigger mechanism for towns to conduct property revaluations occurs when the town assessments drop below 70 percent of market valuations.

This could happen in a decade or less. In Casco, it had been 17 years since property values were fully reassessed, and the results of the revaluation implemented last summer brought severe cases of sticker shock to waterfront homeowners in town.

Bob Levesque, organizer of the Casco Tax Fairness Association, said last week some landowners have seen 400 percent increases on shorefront properties they own.

Despite nearly halving the town tax rate, from $17.80 to $9.65 per $1,000 of valuation, the revaluation led to thousands of dollars in tax increases for homeowners like Levesque.

Levesque, with 224 other property owners, filed abatement applications for the property taxes paid this year, which total almost $24 million, citing a discriminatory pattern that singled out waterfront owners for tax increases.

Levesque said he does not oppose increases as such, but the ones that raised a tax bill on his primary residence from $4,100 to $6,300 were not only onerous, they were based on bad data and a lack of knowledge about his property.

Countering the cries of unfairness and discrimination against waterfront property owners is Casco Town Assessor John O’Donnell, who also heads the firm that conducted the revaluation.

O’Donnell cited the length of time between evaluations as a factor in the increased assessments while noting waterfront owners with undervalued properties had been in effect subsidized by other property owners over the years. He added that it is unlikely he will be able to review all the applications in the required 60-day period.

Without casting judgment on O’Donnell’s work, it is a wonder that a paid town official can engage his own firm to determine local tax values then decide on the validity of the abatement request. It is legal, and it should not be.

It is a practice akin to town officials awarding municipal contracts to their own companies or police officers serving as judge and jury for detained suspects.

The revision allowing towns to stay within 70 percent of current market valuations before revaluing property was added to Maine law in 1975. Now it is time to consider requiring revaluations at least once a decade. In the time since Casco last revalued properties as a whole, there have been two recessions and two boom cycles in real estate.

While Casco homeowners find themselves paying tax bills based on values from April 1, 2007, higher than current market values, that flux would never be fully avoided. Market cycles do not conform to legislative agendas, but the current pain would have been softened if a revaluation had occurred in Casco in 2000.

The intent is fairness, a term always open to dispute, but some simple revisions could lead to less rancorous disputes and more real fairness.

David Harry, editor