OXFORD — Town Manager Michael Chammings told selectmen that connecting to the Paris Utility District, as PUD trustees recently recommended, would be much more expensive than the current plan of building a treatment plant in Oxford’s Tax Increment Financing district.

In February, Oxford residents voted to create a 502-acre parcel called the Route 26 Omnibus Municipal Development and Tax Increment Financing District. It includes the Oxford Casino on Pigeon Hill, 315 acres of additional commercial property along Route 26 and parts of the public right of way along Route 26.

Tax increment financing allows a municipality to shelter itself from paying more to the state and county government on property that increases in value, as the casino property is expected to do. The town can use the extra funding it gets from property taxes to finance improvements.

Chammings said current estimates have the district saving the town more than $12 million in tax revenues that would otherwise go to the county and SAD 17 over 20 years. That money can pay for town upgrades, but only within the TIF district.

As more development comes to Oxford, Chammings said that figure will increase. He said the TIF district allows the town to set aside up to $18.6 million for TIF zone projects.

However, development outside of the TIF district must be paid for by the town’s regular funding.

At a recent meeting, the Paris Utility District questioned Oxford’s decision to build its own waste treatment facility rather than piping it to the Paris treatment facility.

Chammings agreed it would be cheaper overall, and said the town considered that option. “It wasn’t ruled out quickly,” he said, adding that a sewer line expansion to Paris would cost more than $4 million. The sewer lines would also have to pass Norway sewer lines, which handle Oxford sewage on Route 26 near the town line.

The planned treatment facility in Oxford carries an $18 million price tag. However, the TIF district will allow Oxford to build a state-of-the-art facility that is up to California’s rigorous standards. Chammings said it would be one of the first of its kind in the state.

“The DEP is very happy with this,” Chammings said.

Chammings said any money spent on sewage treatment outside the TIF district will cost the town more than building inside it.

“You wouldn’t save a penny,” he said. He acknowledged that working with Paris would make for lower rates for Paris and help the PUD, but said it would hurt Oxford taxpayers.

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