As Washington County enters the new year, it is hoping to collect taxes from towns early so it can pay off its $8 million debt by February before taking
on a new loan for the year ahead.
So far, 22 towns have committed to prepaying the county’s 2025 tax anticipation note, and 14 of those towns have already paid their share, paying $2.2 million of the at least $4.3 million the county is expecting to receive early.
The county typically relies on TANs to fund its operations while awaiting tax payments from the towns, but years of fiscal mismanagement came to a head last summer and have left the county unable to continue this arrangement without an influx of cash.
Seven towns and the Passamaquoddy Nation are refusing to participate in this payment schedule, meaning $2.9 million will be added to the amount that will be borrowed for 2026. Unlike communities that have agreed to prepay, the communities that have decided to carry their share into the new year will pay interest on that carryover debt.
As of Monday, according to an accounting presented to Washington County commissioners, there were still 13 communities that had not indicated whether they would prepay their share of the TAN, leaving about $1.4 million hanging in the balance.
County officials believe that many of those communities will agree to pay early. A number of them, including Cutler and Northfield, have scheduled meetings in January to consider their options, so county staff are pretty confident the final debt figure they will have to finance will fall below the current total.
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