A small Penobscot County town that’s pursuing deorganization won’t be able to dissolve until 2029.
Residents of Maxfield, a town of 89 residents outside Howland, started the 12 steps to deorganize — the process in which a municipality ceases to be an independent town and becomes part of Maine’s Unorganized Territory — in December with the town’s first vote.
Timelines for completing all of the steps, which include settling all debts, leaving the regional school unit and deciding what will happen to town property, are why the town has to wait at least three years to join the unorganized territory.
“If everything happened the way it’s supposed to, it’s still going to be July 1, 2029, before they deorganize,” said Penobscot County Unorganized Territory Director, George Buswell, during a Penobscot County Commissioners meeting last week.
Maxfield residents began the process because of a lack of residents willing to run for local office, high property taxes and no funds to improve the town’s roads. There is no guarantee that joining the unorganized territory will lower tax rates because of a needed revaluation.
Maxfield residents will have multiple votes in the coming years and can end the process at any stage. If they do vote down any step, Maxfield will not be able to restart the process for another three years.
Most recently, a five-person committee submitted the town’s deorganizing plan, one of the major steps at the beginning of the process. The plan was reviewed by Buswell, state officials and County Commissioner Dave Marshall, Buswell said.
“We made a few changes, minor at most, but they did a good job writing up their plan,” Buswell said.
