The owners of the Salmon Falls Mill buildings in Rollinsford have filed a tax abatement suit against the town, alleging they’re being charged far too much in property taxes. Owners hope the tax relief will help them cover some $600,000 in repairs needed to get the 180-year-old brick buildings up to code.

Located on Front Street, the upper and lower mill buildings currently house approximately 150 artists and businesses. Cutter Family Properties has owned the former textile mills, which were built along the banks of the Salmon Falls River in the 1820s, for just over 10 years.

Brian Pellerin of Cutter Family Properties said he recently hired a private tax assessment company, which determined the town’s assessed value of the property is about seven times higher than the true value. The lawsuit, filed at Stafford County Superior Court, is aimed at lowering taxes on the property to reflect its actual value.

Rollinsford selectman Patrick Carroll confirmed the town had received a copy of the suit. He said they would consult with the town’s assessing agency, Avitar Associates of New England, to determine the cause of the disparity.

“That’s what we’re trying to figure out right now,” he said.

According to Carroll, the town’s total assessed value of the two buildings is nearly $3.2 million. At a tax rate of $20.53 per $1,000 valuation, that means Cutter must pay more than $65,000 annually in taxes. If the actual value is roughly one-seventh of that, Cutter would only owe a little over $9,000 per year.

The town has been pressing Cutter to address several fire code violations in the combined 200,000-square-foot buildings, mostly involving exits, fire escapes and sprinkler systems. Pellerin said the owners are still working on those issues.

“We’re in the process of addressing it,” he said. “We should have it finished in about two years.”

The Fire Department has been working with Cutter to set realistic deadlines for the costly upgrades, and management has already met several milestones, Pellerin said. The renovations must be complete within two years.

Carroll said the town has been satisfied with Cutter’s efforts to upgrade the buildings.

“The fire chief told me the other day progress is being made and he seems pretty happy with what they’re doing,” he said.

But the high taxes have made it difficult to fund the repair work, and the town reserves the right to close the facility and evacuate all the studios and businesses. “They always have the option of shutting down the building at any time,” Pellerin said.

No hearings have yet been scheduled on the tax abatement suit. As of last week, the Board of Selectmen had met to discuss the suit but had not yet forwarded it to their attorneys, Carroll said.

Ultimately, Pellerin hopes to continue offering affordable rents for the mills’ many working artists and small businesses.

“We’re doing our best to keep them low,” he said. “I think that’s really our key to staying afloat in the current economy. It doesn’t do us any good to turn the screws on the businesses trying to get by here.”

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