Unless the state calls on Alna to start taxing tractors or other personal property, selectmen have no interest in pursuing it.

Adding the tax might lighten taxes on land and buildings, but only because residents would be funding some of the town’s spending through another tax, board members said.

“It would be coming out of one pocket or another,” First Selectman David Abbott said at the board’s July 15 meeting.

“It’s kind of like a zero-sum game,” Third Selectman Doug Baston agreed later. He arrived late to the meeting after being stuck in traffic in Massachusetts.

Abbott recalled that when he previously served on the board from 1989 to 2000, the town charged personal property taxes on construction equipment. Currently, the town levies no personal property tax, town officials said.

About half a dozen satellite dish providers pay a business equipment tax, Town Clerk Amy Warner said. As with board members, Warner had no interest in seeking a personal property tax.

If tractors or other items were selected to tax, the town would have to make sure no one’s were overlooked, she said. “What are you going to do, go look in people’s garages?”

The agenda item stemmed from resident Gordon Davis asking about the personal property tax, Warner said. It was a topic for a regional economic development panel that Davis served on for  Alna, she said.

Selectmen took no action. They said they don’t plan to consider any changes unless the state forces the issue, such as by putting state aid on the line.

“Until somebody tells us to do anything, I just don’t see any reason,” Baston said.

“I guess we can cross that bridge when we come to it,” Abbott said.

Wiscasset traffic ‘pretzel’ predicted

Alna officials predicted increased traffic tie-ups from the state’s planned traffic signal where routes 1 and 27 meet in Wiscasset.

“That’s going to make it way worse,” Warner said. In addition to the northbound backups that already occur, traffic will back up south of the new signal, she said.

“That’s going to be like a pretzel.”

Selectmen predicted the northbound backups will worsen with the signal.

The project, which will also add sidewalks nearby, is aimed at making motorists and pedestrians safer, Maine Department of Transportation officials have said. It should not worsen summer traffic issues and may improve them, they said.

MDOT officials expect to have the signal installed next year.