WOODLAND, Maine — A Woodland Select Board member owes two years of unpaid taxes to the town, according to public tax records.
Thomas Drew is serving a three-year term on the board, which will end in 2024. Delinquent tax records published for the town’s annual meeting indicate that Drew owes $10,354.24, a combined total of 2021 and 2022.
He is the most recent public official in Aroostook to owe back taxes. In July, Reed Plantation selectboard chair and assessor Scott Hannington worked with officials to pay a $22,275 bill in personal property taxes that spanned several years.
Drew said Wednesday that he plans to work with the town on a plan to pay back his taxes. He attributed his current tax debt to a recent “financial hardship.”
“I do plan to pay it off because if I don’t I’ll lose my farm,” said Drew, who owns H.B. Farms, a dairy farm in Woodland.
Woodland’s town charter does not have a policy requiring elected officials to pay taxes in order to serve on the Select Board.
The tax records listing Drew’s debt were distributed at Woodland’s annual town budget meeting Tuesday. It’s typical of towns to list delinquent tax records in the annual budget booklet, all of which is public record.
