Welcome to the Town of Athens
The Athens Town Office is located in the historic Somerset Academy at 26 Academy Street in Athens, Maine.
Regular Town Office Hours are Mondays 2-6pm and Thursdays 2-6pm. During these hours Athens residents can register vehicles, boats, and trailers, license dogs, register to vote, pay tax bills, and obtain hunting, trapping and fishing licenses.
The Selectboard meets on Tuesdays at 7pm at the Town Office.
Town Meeting Warrants, Annual Reports, Local Ordinances, Tax Maps, Selectboard Meeting Agendas, and Tax Commitment Books can be found at: www.athens.maine.gov/resources
ONLINE REGISTRATION and LICENSE OPTIONS
Vehicle and trailer registration renewals can be done online at: www.maine.gov/sos/bmv/registration/index.html
Hunting and fishing licenses can be obtained online at: apps1.web.maine.gov/cgi-bin/online/moses_v3/index
TRANSFER STATION
The Transfer Station on Dore Hill Road is open to Athens residents with a Transfer Station sticker on Wednesdays and Saturdays between 8am and 4pm. Stickers are available at the Town Office and the Transfer Station during regular hours.
BOARD OF ASSESSORS MEETING
In accordance with Title 36, Section 706 of the Maine Revised Statutes, The Athens Board of Assessors hereby gives notice to all persons liable to taxation in Athens to file lists of their real and personal property with the Board of Assessors by Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
The Board of Assessors will be in session from 7:00PM to 9:00PM on March 25th for the purpose of receiving such lists.
Lists may also be sent to the Town of Athens, Board of Assessors, P.O. Box 146, Athens, Me. 04912. Under such notice, taxpayers failing to furnish lists of taxable property on or before March 31, 2025 jeopardize their right of any abatement of taxes.
Under Maine State Law, the ownership and valuation of all real estate or personal property subject to taxation shall be fixed as of April 1st. For fiscal year 2024-2025, that date was April 1, 2024.
Personal Property Tax
Any assets owned or located in Athens for use in business are eligible for taxation by property tax; the tax rate is the same rate as applied to taxable real estate. For example:
Machinery & Equipment: Presses, tools, machining equipment, garage equipment, heavy-duty shelving and other machinery or manufacturing equipment, telephones, vending machines, televisions, fax machines, copiers, office equipment
Furniture & Fixture: Desks, chairs, bookcases, filing cabinets, tables
Computer Equipment: Computers, monitors, servers, printers, smartphones
Miscellaneous Personal Property: Trailers, cargo, bulk hauling, storage, office, law library, art work
Businesses are required to provide the Assessors with a true and perfect list of personal property assets located in Athens as of April 15th, 2025.
If your business is open as of April 1st, you are responsible for personal property taxes for the entire fiscal year.
Failure to file a true and perfect list of assets bars a taxpayer’s right to appeal his or her valuation for that year, M.R.S. Title 36 § 706-A.
HERBICIDE SPRAYING PLANNED ALONG CMP TRANSMISSION LINES
Central Maine Power Company is planning to apply herbicides for vegetation control along the CMP Electrical Transmission Corridor in Spring and Summer 2025.
The Town of Athens adopted the Herbicide Application Notification Ordinance in 2024.
The Ordinance states that, “No Utility or spray contracting firm may apply herbicides to a section of the transmission corridor if an abutting landowner requests that vegetation management along the right-of-way abutting the landowner’s property be conducted without use of herbicides.
Upon landowner request, a no-spray zone must apply to the entire length of right-of-way abutting the landowner’s property. The cost of using non-herbicide based vegetation management methods shall be covered by the Utility or Transmission Corridor manager, and no fee for costs of non-herbicide based vegetation management shall be imposed upon a landowner requesting a No-Spray zone along the section of right-of-way abutting the landowner’s property.”
IF YOU HAVE A WELL NEAR TRANSMISSION LINES, NOTIFY CMP TO ENSURE THEY KNOW ITS LOCATION AND CMP IS REQUIRED TO MAINTAIN A BUFFER ZONE BETWEEN THE WELL AND AREAS WHERE HERBICIDES ARE APPLIED
IF YOU OWN PROPERTY ALONG THE CMP TRANSMISSION LINE CORRIDOR, AND DO NOT WANT CMP TO APPLY ANY HERBICIDES TO THE ABUTTING LAND, THEN YOU NEED TO NOTIFY CMP AND THE TOWN OF ATHENS TO BE ADDED TO THE “DO NOT SPRAY” LIST
CMP CONTACT: group.arborists_cmp@cmpco.com Nicholas Hahn at (207) 620-4618
CMP Vegetation Management, 83 Edison Dr. Augusta, ME 04336
TOWN OF ATHENS CONTACT: townofathens@tds.net
Our History
Athens is located in the Wesserunsett Valley. Wesserunsett Stream is the seventh largest tributary of the Kennebec River.
Athens is part of Somerset County and was incorporated on March 7, 1804, when Maine was still part of Massachusetts. Most of the early settlers of European descent in Athens were Revolutionary War soldiers. In 1821 the town annexed land from Hartland, and later from Brighton in 1838 and 1862.
The main village in the town is north of Skowhegan following Route 150 to the junction with state routes 43 and 151. It is located at the fork of the East and West branches of Wesserunsett Stream, which joins the Kennebec River just below Skowhegan. The historic Fairgrounds and Exhibition Hall are located on Route 150 coming into the center of town and the Grange Hall is in the middle of the village. The Town Office is located in the Somerset Academy, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.
