Army National Guard Staff Sgt. Dana Field called the Wiscasset town office recently to ask about a possible veteran's exemption on property taxes.

The married father of three served in Afghanistan and is now stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y. A member of the 488th Military Police Company, he was promoted to his current rank in August.

His family has just moved from Wiscasset to Harpswell, to be nearer his brother and sister, he said. But Dana and Karena Field plan to hang onto the couple’s Wiscasset home for now, so he wanted to see if a tax exemption would be worth doing the paperwork to get it.

Field said he was surprised and a little frustrated to discover the town no longer has an assessors' agent to take those kinds of questions directly.

The job's longtime holder, Sue Varney, was laid off in September, after voters twice rejected selectmen's proposed assessing budget.

A member of the town staff asked Field to leave a message, so he did.

“I didn't think I'd get anywhere,” he said.

But the message was returned, Field said. He was especially pleased the person on the other end of the phone was an old acquaintance he has a lot of respect for, Selectman Jeff Slack.

Slack used to work with Field's children at the Wiscasset Community Center, Field said.

Slack told him that property tax bills are late this year (due to the assessing situation), and that Field will be getting answers to his questions.

Field said he's satisfied with how the town has handled his inquiry about an exemption.

Slack said he enjoyed responding to the messages people have left. He's always been very customer-oriented, he said.

His and other board members' full roles in assessing remain to be seen. Board Chairman Ed Polewarczyk has expressed concerns about legal and other issues for board members and the town.

The board has sought a lawyer's opinion.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or susanjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com