Wiscasset selectmen reaffirmed a decision to grant a property tax abatement Tuesday night.

Acting on the advice of their assessor Ellery Bane, the board unanimously agreed to stick by its decision of three weeks ago, granting an abatement requested by resident Christopher Morrison.

Chairman Ben Rines Jr. asked Bane if the numbers selectmen based their March 15 decision on were correct, if the decision was a sound one, and could they choose to reconsider it. “Yes,” Bane responded to all three but added, it would be difficult for the board to defend a decision revoking the abatement. Bane said the board could reconsider it next year, however.

According to the minutes of the March 15 meeting, selectmen granted Morrison an abatement in real estate valuation of $41,300. Morrison owns two lots, which were assessed separately. As stated, he was told by town officials if the lots were combined the assessment would be less. Morrison did not want to combine the lots under one deed.

During the March 15 discussion an issue arose over the use of a lot merger form developed by the town that permits adjourning properties to be assessed as one lot without combining deeds.

The minutes further stated that Bane said, in other towns, “adjoining properties could be assessed as one lot without combining deeds; however, the Wiscasset selectmen had in the past decided against that policy.” For that reason, Bane recommended denying the abatement until Morrison filed the required paperwork, the lot merger form.

Further discussion between selectmen, the town manager and the assessor concerned whether the lot merger form had ever been used. They could not determine that it had. Then the board unanimously granted Morrison’s abatement, agreeing use of the lot merger form be “suspended until a decision on continuing the policy was made,” as stated in the March 15 minutes.

Later that same week a letter to the town manager from Sue Varney, the town’s former assessing agent, stated the lot merger form had in fact been used a number of times. “There was a comment stated in the newspaper that there is ‘no record of any taxpayer in Wiscasset completing the lot merger form.’ If the real estate file folders are looked at, you will see the combining lots form,” wrote Varney.

“The form was developed and used successfully by other assessors in the area and was marked up and created for Wiscasset’s use,” Varney added.

During Tuesday night’s discussion Rines said he’d spoken to Varney over the telephone. “I called and apologized to her and thanked her for her letter to the board clearing up the matter.” Rines also publicly thanked Morrison for his patience.