ALBANY TOWNSHIP, Maine — This area is like many of western Maine’s small towns: Skiers and hikers drive the economy and erect second homes while the full-time population ages.
But Albany hasn’t held a town meeting since 1937, when its residents disbanded their government to become a township. Now home to roughly 500 people, it is bigger than many of the state’s towns. Without a local government, its growing population is stretching state and county officials who govern the community as part of Maine’s vast Unorganized Territory.
Two communities voted to begin Maine’s yearslong process of dissolving last year. Albany is an opposing case, with state officials saying it illustrates the need for a streamlined process to reform towns. Residents here have preemptively pushed back in a series of recent meetings, even though it has not been officially proposed by any agency.
“It would be quite onerous becoming a town,” said Bob O’Brien, the president of the Albany Improvement Association who is often referred to as the community’s unofficial mayor. “We have no officials now.”
Services in Maine’s Unorganized Territory are provided by nearby towns as well as county and state governments. The state sets the property tax rate for the unorganized area in each county, which often comes out to a relatively low rate for services in the territory.
Since Maine’s COVID-19 housing boom, areas like Albany are changing fast. Last year, many property owners in unorganized areas saw sharp tax increases due to revaluations that raised the value of prime property. Without any local officials to pay for, remaining unorganized provides some benefit.
But it is a burden for the county and state. As one of the most densely populated parts of the unorganized territory, Albany accounts for 42% of Oxford County’s road maintenance budget.
A February report by the Land Use Planning Commission and the county said Albany “no longer fits” the township model due to its growth. Chip Jones, the state’s fiscal administrator for the Unorganized Territory, said the vast area’s overall population is growing and policymakers are considering ways to clear a path for communities like Albany to organize themselves.
“It would make more sense to have an easy step process for them to move back into an organized municipality,” he said.
Nobody has formally proposed reorganizing Albany but rumors have been circulating for years. Residents worry higher-ups may stick them with the cost of organizing services in Albany. A top-down reorganization would happen “over our dead bodies,” O’Brien said.
State and county officials acknowledged this attitude at recent meetings. Jones said while his office is starting to weigh creating a method for towns to reorganize, decisions can only be made by residents. Many residents are there in part because there is no local government, said Oxford County Commissioner Sawin Millett, a longtime Republican lawmaker from Waterford.
“And from my vantage point, there’s no one pushing or trying to even suggest that they organize,” Millett said.
Longtime resident Lorraine Tanguay recounted an occasion three years ago when she was the first on the scene of a truck crash. It took 45 minutes for a state trooper to get there and an hour for the ambulance. But she still accepts the status quo.
“We understand what we’re getting when you live here,” she said. “I don’t see how this area can support a town government.”
As Albany grows, more people will live under its limited services. That could spur demand for more. Dean Abby, who recently retired to lakeside property he has had for 35 years in Albany, supports the meetings, saying he and his neighbors often struggle to recognize common issues in a place built on rugged individualism.
“I think people take a great deal of pride living in a township,” he said.
Daniel O’Connor is a Report for America corps member who covers rural government as part of the partnership between the Bangor Daily News and The Maine Monitor, with additional support from BDN and Monitor readers.
