Announcements

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Knox County Budget and Meeting Schedule
here

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PROPERTY TAX STABILIZATION FOR SENIOR CITIZENS
CUSHING, MAINE
BOARD OF ASSESSORS

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

1. What are the qualifications?

• • You must be at least 65 years of age as of the next April 1, and
  • You must be a permanent resident of the State of Maine, and
  • You must have owned a homestead in Maine for at least 10 years, and
  • You must be eligible for the Homestead Exemption on the home you are applying for stabilization.

2. How does the program work?

Eligible applicants who apply by December 1, 2022 and are approved will see their FY2024 (billed October 2023 & May 2024 ) tax bills frozen in the amount of their FY2023 tax bills (billed October 2022 & May 2023).

3. Do I need to reapply every year?

Yes.

4. What happens to the uncollected portion of the tax bill?

The State of Maine will reimburse the Town for the portion of the approved applicant’s tax bill that is not “frozen”.

5. How does this affect my assessment?

It will not affect your assessment.

6. Does the Town need to raise taxes to pay for this program?

There is no amount in the municipal appropriation that pays for  this program, either in part or in full.

7. What are the relevant Maine statutes that govern this program?

Newly signed into law: LD 290, Title 36, §6281
Title 36, Chapter 105, §681-689

8. I have more questions, where can I get more information?

The State of Maine website has guidance for applicants within the application and a separate document:
Property Tax Stabilization Program I Maine Revenue Services

You may contact the State of Maine at 207-624-5600

You may contact the Town’s Assessor’s Agent here at the town office (Call 207-354-2375 for an appointment) or visit their website at www.maineassessment.com/forms

August 15, 2022

Application can be found here

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Fiber Internet for Cushing

Dear Cushing resident,

We are reaching out to you, to request that you use the below link to provide internet speed test data that can be used by Cushing in a grant application to the state for grant money to bring fiber internet to our town.

As you may recall, our residents voted last June to join the Midcoast Internet Development Corporation, a community-owned broadband utility district, to bring high speed fiber internet to Cushing and other areas. A key part of our work has been to apply for state grant money to help build out this network. The state has decided that it will give grant money first to locations in the state that are considered “unserved” for internet service. The state defines “unserved” locations as those with internet speeds that are slower than 50 mbps download and 10 mbps upload. This is not based on what the internet company (e.g. Spectrum) says its speeds are, but is based on actual speed test data. If either of these measures is not met, the location would be considered unserved and eligible for state grant money. Importantly, Spectrum often has difficulty meeting the 10 mbps upload speed at many locations. Those locations would, therefore, be classified as unserved and eligible for grant money.

The state’s current map for Cushing lists Cushing as having 75 unserved locations and 807 underserved locations (speeds between 50-99 mbps download and 10-99 upload). We believe that the state mapping is inaccurate, and that Cushing has many more unserved locations than currently indicated. By clicking on the below link, you can automatically run a speed test and replace the data that the state currently has for your location with real, more accurate data. Correcting this with actual speed test data would allow Cushing to obtain more state grant money to install fiber internet.

midcoast.vetro.io      (enter your address in the box in the upper left)

Thank you for helping Cushing work towards building out fiber internet in our town.

Sincerely, Cushing Selectboard

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General Assistance

The municipality of Cushing administers a General Assistance program for the support of the poor.  Pursuant to Title 22 MRSA §4305, the municipal officers have adopted an ordinance establishing that program.  A copy of this ordinance is available for public inspection at the town office.  Also available for inspection is a copy of the State’s General Assistance Statutes, as copies of the State law are made available to the municipality, by the State of Maine Department of Health and Human Services.

Persons who wish to apply for General Assistance may do so at the Cushing Community Center Monday- 8:30am-4:30pm, Wednesday- 8:30am-4:30pm, and Friday-7:30-2:30pm.

In case of an emergency, applicants may contact: Cheryl Stackpole at 691-3496.

A written decision must be issued within 24 hours from the time of application.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ toll-free telephone number, to call with a question regarding the General Assistance Program, is 1-800-442-6003.

This notice is posted pursuant to Title 22 MRSA §4304-4305

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Town of Cushing
Broadband Planning Report

A copy of the report can be found here

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Food Pantry Volunteers
The Food Pantry is always looking for volunteers. If you are interested in helping, please contact Karen Goodwill at 354-0669.