Personal Property Tax for Businesses

More than 300 letters have been sent to all known business owners in Gorham regarding personal property such as equipment and furniture that the business uses. Some smaller businesses such as farms, landscapers, and excavators have not been reporting their personal property on an annual basis.

It is the responsibility of business owners to report this information on an annual basis [so that personal property taxes are paid] but some businesses have not paid personal property taxes in years. The Town will not ask for back personal property taxes but will expect businesses to pay going forward. The Town does not expect that this will be a major source of revenue but it will be more fair as going forward; everyone will be expected to pay these taxes.

South Street Paving

South St. from Rt. 25 to the roundabout will be repaved this summer. PACTS, a greater Portland transportation management agency, prioritizes what work needs to be done and the Maine Department of Transportation pays for the work and hires the contractors.

Main Street Reconstruction

Shaw Brothers was once again the only firm to submit a bid for the reconstruction of Main Street. Their bid of $7,451,000 was 48% over the budgeted amount of $5,020,888. This is the second year that the Town has sought bids for this work with the bids coming in significantly higher than the budgeted amount.

Portland Water District needs to install new water mains as the ones under Main St. are more than 100 years old. There is also concrete that will need to be removed and the road will have to be restored. Everyone has limits on the fund available for any given project and the Town plans to meet with the MDOT and Portland Water District to see what possible changes can be made to help this project move forward or come to an agreement as to doing some of the work.