Town Manager Tom Woodin announced at the August 11 selectmen's meeting that the tax rate for Boothbay Harbor residents has fallen for the 2014-2015 year, from 10.95 percent to 10.90 percent.

Though this may seem like a small drop, over the past seven years the rate for Boothbay Harbor has dropped from 12.20 percent in 2008-2009 to 10.90 this year. The lowest it has ever been in that time period was from 2011-2013, when the rate was 10.50 percent.

Selectman Bill Hamblen said a tax rate drop was a “tremendous accomplishment.”

Vice Chairman Jay Warren agreed.

“It's great that the town has kept the budget under control,” Warren said.

Selectman Wendy Wolf thanked the budget committee for their hard work every year.

Woodin said tax bills for the 2014-2015 year would be mailed out this Thursday, which is much earlier than usual.

Other business

The selectmen unanimously appointed Jay Crooker as a new reserve police officer for Boothbay Harbor, at the request of Police Chief Bob Hasch. According to Woodin, the town normally has between four and six reserve officers. With the addition of Crooker, the town now has three.

Woodin announced that the Boothbay Harbor town office will now be accepting credit/debit cards for payments. There will be a 2.5 percent fee added on to any payments made with credit or debit cards, to offset the costs to the town.

Woodin also announced that the public works cold storage building was nearing completion, and would most likely be done sometime between the last week in August and the second week of September.

The next Boothbay Harbor selectmen’s meeting will be held on Monday, Aug. 25 at 6 p.m. at the Boothbay Harbor Town Office.