The TIF was defeated on the November 5 referendum, but Boothbay selectmen still believe a tax incremental financing district should be pursued.

“The TIF was a loss. The bond I could live without, but the TIF was absolutely a loss to this town and I'd like to get it back,” selectman Dale Harmon said.

On the November 5 election, Boothbay residents rejected a 272 acre TIF district and a $2.5 million bond, which was part of a 30-year economic development plan proposed by the selectmen. Although the voting results were relatively close on both articles, many residents were critical of how little time and information they had to consider the articles before the vote.

“The whole reason that you guys are even having this conversation right now is because nobody knew what it was,” said resident Laurie Knowlton, who was present at the November 13 selectmen meeting. “You might have gotten a lot of people that showed up, but if they don't know what they're voting on and it involves their tax money, they're going to vote no.”

The selectmen have admitted that there wasn't a lot time between the unveiling of the plan on September 11 and the November 5 vote, but the majority of the board believes if they iron out the kinks and clarify the details, a new TIF district will greatly benefit the region.

Town Manager Jim Chaousis recommended “dumbing down” the scale of the original proposed TIF, making the information less complicated and redrawing the district around the Boothbay Harbor Country Club, where owner Paul Coulombe is slated to sink $17 million more dollars into the golf course, which includes a new entrance to Route 27.

“If I was going to dumb down the TIF district as basic as it gets, you draw it around where you know the new value is going to be. We know the new value is in the country club. We draw a district around there, that way we can shelter the money and create the TIF fund and that's it.” Chaousis said.

If a TIF district were approved at next year's town meeting, any amendments or expenditure of town monies generated by the TIF would be part of a public vetting process.  

But before any new TIF plan materializes, the selectmen said they need to weigh the options, and many questions still remain unanswered. Should a TIF plan go before the people at town meeting next May, would it be better to vote in an open forum, or to hold another referendum? What businesses would benefit? Should credit enhancement agreements be offered as an incentive to create jobs and hire locally? The selectmen said there are still a lot of unknowns at this time.

Although the majority of the selectmen want to revisit the TIF, selectman Chuck Cunningham warned the board that revisiting a question once voted down will result in another loss.

“A lesson we learned with water and sewer going up Route 27, is if you ask the same question in too short of time period it will be defeated,” Cunningham said.

The selectmen agreed they would put out a poll to measure public feedback.

“If we get a poll, that will give us a good guide on direction,” said chairman Steve Lewis. “We better know if we have the support. If it comes back 70 to 30 (percent) against, what's the point?”

“The poll is all well and good,” Cunningham said. “There are people outside that have views on this as well and are willing to express those views, but the people we need to be listening to are the residents and voters of the town of Boothbay.”

Chaousis said he would put together a poll to be posted on the town of Boothbay website as soon as possible.