Wiscasset is suing the development company Mason Station for more than $800,000 in back taxes.

The lawsuit, filed December 7 in Lincoln County Superior Court, claims Mason Station owes the town $846,263 in property and personal taxes on more than 80 properties. The town now owns all but nine of them as a result of foreclosures.

“Despite numerous demands, (the) defendant has refused and continues to refuse to pay the full amounts owed...,” the town's lawyers in the case, James Belleau and Bryan Dench, state in documents filed with the suit.

Reached December 28, Dench said he was very optimistic about the town's chances of getting the money it's seeking in the suit.

He said he expected the court to rule in Wiscasset's favor, and he believes a request the town has filed for a lien on the company's assets will help ensure the money is still in place for the town to receive, he said.

The court has not yet ruled on that request.

Along with the suit, the town filed an affidavit from the town's tax collector, Shari Fredette. It lists Mason Station's unpaid taxes dating from 2007 to 2012, and states that the town is unaware of any insurance that might cover the debt.

The town approved Mason Station's planned 85-lot subdivision off Birch Point Road years ago, but only approved 12 of the lots for development,   Town Planner Misty Parker said. Homes were built on only two of those, Parker said.

The company has not yet filed a response to the suit over the back taxes. Several attempts by the Wiscasset Newspaper to contact Mason Station  have been unsuccessful.

Wiscasset Town Manager Laurie Smith was out of her office December 28 and did not immediately return messages.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.