THORNDIKE - An application by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association for property tax exempt status in Thorndike has been denied by town officials. Waldo County officials have denied a subsequent appeal. A similar request in Unity is under consideration.

MOFGA filed for exemptions in both towns in 2012. The organization pays roughly $5,000 per year in taxes in Thorndike and $1,300 in Unity, according to officials in the two towns. In Unity where much of MOFGA’s roughly 400 acres of holdings resides, a portion is already exempt from taxes. 

PenBay Pilot contacted MOFGA last week and again on Monday, but was unable to reach an administrator who could comment on the case.

Speaking in April, Heather Spalding, then-Interim Executive Director, likened the applications for property tax exemption to an administrative formality. The nonprofit has made payments to the towns in the past, she said, and would continue make payments in lieu of taxes if granted exemption. 

Spalding said the requests were made at the suggestion of the Unity assessor while MOFGA administrators were doing research to clarify the organization’s property ownership.

"The point is, we want to be officially on the record as having filed the papers," she said. "We plan to continue to make payments in lieu of taxes and just go through the process."

MOFGA moved its headquarters to Unity in 1997. As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Spalding said the organization was eligible for a property tax exemption but made a "gentleman's agreement" with Unity selectmen to make an annual donation in lieu of taxes. In Thorndike, where MOFGAs holdings total around 43 acres, Spalding said the organization has simply paid the taxes on the assessed value of the property. 

Thorndike Selectman Jim Bennett confirmed that MOFGA has its annual taxes. He and fellow town officials denied MOFGA’s application, he said, in part because the use of the property for parking, farmland and office space did not qualify for exemption.

Bennett thought the organization might have mistakenly believed its federal 501(c)(3) designation entitled it to blanket property tax exemption, but Maine law limits exemptions to certain uses. The Maine statute on property tax exemptions in cities and towns specifically mentions nonprofit benevolent and charitable institutions, literary and scientific institutions, veterans’ and fraternal organizations, churches, chambers of commerce, hospitals and certain health care facilities.

Bennett called MOFGA’s current property tax exemption in neighboring Unity “fair” based on the uses there, but said a similar case could not be made in Thorndike.

“You can’t go around buying up all the big property and think you’re going to be tax exempt,” he said, “You’ll put the town under.” 

MOFGA appealed the Thorndike decision to Waldo County officials, who also denied the application.

“In this particular case, there were numerous mistakes in the application,” said County Commissioner William Shorey, “It didn’t meet up with the statutes we have to go by.”

Shorey said the papers were filed as an abatement rather than an exemption and included inconsistent dates. The errors, he said, were too numerous to be overlooked as minor clerical errors.

Shorey said MOFGA could appeal to Superior Court, but he doubted the organization would win based on what he had seen. Otherwise, he said, the organization could reapply in January 2014.

Unity Town Clerk Sue Lombard said selectmen are planning to meet with their assessor’s agent on Sept. 20 to discuss MOFGA’s application for property tax exemption in that town.

Ethan Andrews can be reached at news@penbaypilot.com