SANFORD — The City Council on Tuesday voted to earmark about $2,900 from the annual transfer of funds from budget savings this fiscal year to cover a property tax bill for a city-related nonprofit.

Sanford Springvale Historical Society, a nonprofit entity, found themselves in a financial predicament when they learned property taxes were due on an historic home they’d acquired adjacent to the historical museum on Main Street. The taxes were due because the society purchased the home after April 1, 2014, the cutoff date that determines ownership for property tax purposes. Had the purchase been made prior to April 1, there would have been no taxes due, because it would have already been owned by the nonprofit agency.

On Tuesday, Councilor Joseph Hanslip said the society has erroneously believed when it purchased the historic Goodwin house that the nonprofit status would be immediately applied to the property.

The $2,900 earmark is a one-time event, because on April 1 this year, the society became the property owner.

The historical society is an off-shoot of the Sanford Springvale Historical Committee ”“ a committee formed by the municipality many years ago to look after the historical interests and artifacts of Sanford and Springvale. It receives an appropriation from the city annually to help fund operations, which is earmarked for heat and utilities, said Hanslip.

City councilors in April pledged to find a way to make some adjustments to solve the problem, even though they declined to adjust the bottom line of that budget that evening. Councilors said the request came too late in the budget process, and weren’t inclined to make 11th hour changes.

And an abatement wasn’t in the offing either, as abatement requests must follow a specific procedure, and the property must be shown to be unfairly taxed because of improperly assessed value.

Each year, the council votes to transfer up to 2 percent of money remaining in specific accounts to other accounts as they close out the budget year. The council agreed to earmark the amount of the historical society property tax bill to be included.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or [email protected].