To Clinton tax assessor Garnett Robinson, any industry making money from its real estate or property should pay its entire share in taxes to the municipality it’s based in. Otherwise, Robinson says, the burden falls on individual taxpayers to fund.
A state tax exemption benefits industrial companies for cutting down on pollution but also draws millions of dollars away from small-town tax revenue, and never expires.
Two forestry companies that were announced as recipients for hundreds of thousands of dollars in state grant money last December were issued environmental violations at their Maine facilities over the past several years. One of the companies, ND.
ND Paper Inc. and T&D Wood Energy LLC, announced in December as recipients for hundreds of thousands of dollars in state grant money, have been cited multiple times over the past several years.