It's come full circle after three years. The Boothbay Harbor-Bayville dispute over the 60/40 tax split was heard in Augusta on May 11 and 16. And the message was, "work it out."

Both entities' bills were rejected. LD 1867, sponsored by Senator Dana Dow for Boothbay Harbor, sought to amend the Private and Special Law 1911, chapter 227, which created the Bayville Village Corporation, by repealing the provision that required 60 percent of property taxes raised by Boothbay Harbor on property located in Bayville Village Corporation to be annually paid over to the Corporation for use.

LD 1846, the Bayville Village Corporation's bill sponsored by Representative Bruce MacDonald, would have allowed the separation of the Bayville Village Corporation from the town of Boothbay Harbor and to affiliate with the town of Boothbay if the legal voters of Bayville Village Corporation voted in favor of separation and affiliation, and the legal voters of the town of Boothbay voted in favor of the affiliation.

On Friday, May 11, there was a hearing at the state house where the parties presented their cases and offered testimony.

Jim Coleman, Chairman of Bayville's Board of Overseers, quoted Senator Elizabeth Schneider as saying, "Fairness is in the eye of the beholder."

Based on the committee's review of the testimony and materials presented at the May 11 hearing, the committee expressed its belief that a split of 70/30 would be a more equitable one.

In the committee's opinion, this was a local issue that should have been resolved on a local level.

Mediation was recommended between Boothbay Harbor, Bayville Village Corporation and Boothbay. The committee indicated that they did not want to see the parties back again.

However, if a local agreement could not be reached, the procedure for annexation and secession statue would have to be followed. Bayville would then have to secede from Boothbay Harbor; Boothbay Harbor would have to agree.

Now parties will wait for the committee's letter, which will reiterate the guidance already given at the state house with regard to how it [committee] expects the parties to proceed.

"It's a tragedy that it got this far. We [Bayville] were willing to talk all along, but the Harbor was firm about wanting 100 percent of our taxes. We all want to be good neighbors," said Coleman.

Good neighbors. If the feedback from Boothbay Harbor is any indication, a friendly, neighborly approach may be just what can be expected.

"Senator Schneider definitely had some strong opinions about the situation," said Tom Woodin, Boothbay Harbor's new town manager, and former selectman, of the committee's decision.

"But, afterward, we [Harbor and Bayville attendees] had a very nice conversation, everyone got along together well," Woodin said. "I feel certain we will be able to work something out."

"We have two options; leave things as they are with the 60/40 split, or negotiate with Bayville for a different percentage," said Woodin.

Woodin noted that Bayville residents present at the state house still seemed willing to pursue negotiations.

From the start, Bayville has been willing to negotiate - they offered a 50-50 split which Boothbay Harbor refused; maintaining that the issue was not about money, but about equity.

"My personal opinion is that we should just leave it [the split] the way it is," Woodin said. "We have been going through this for three years now, as the townspeople directed us to do, but, you have to know when to cut your losses."

Woodin said he suspected that the selectmen and Bayville's overseers would be meeting in the very near future.

Newly elected selectman Louis Burnham attended both the hearing and the working session. He concurred with Woodin on the future meeting and agrees with Woodin on the 60/40 split.

"We are all friends and neighbors and I believe we can work this out," said Burnham. "The selectmen did what the town asked them to do, and now, a lot of money has been spent that could have been directed towards something more beneficial."

Indeed, between both entities, over $100,000 in legal fees were incurred.

The largest percentage of these fees was borne by the town of Boothbay Harbor; a great deal more than the $30,000 that was originally allocated to begin proceedings in 2005.

"Certainly a great deal of money has been spent only to come full circle," Woodin said.

In Boothbay, Town Manager John Anderson, who attended the session, said Boothbay is "just fine with whatever is decided."

At the May 3, 2004 town meeting, article 25 was the vote to, "pay the treasurers of the Bayville Village Corporation and the Isle of Springs Association an amount equal to 60 percent of the taxes collected from the inhabitants and estates of that corporation and association (unofficial show of hands to investigate changing this practice.) This "unofficial show of hands" was the vote that started the wheel turning.

Article 4, at the May 2, 2005 town meeting, was the vote to appropriate $30,000 from the undesignated fund balance for the purpose of modernizing, through appeal or amendment, the governmental interrelationship between the Town of Boothbay Harbor and the Isle of Springs and the Bayville Corporation, the current interrelationships having been created in 1903 and 1911 respectively. Sixty-four Boothbay Harbor voters cast a vote of yes; 43 voted no.