Hope — An effort that began in 2007 for the town to include a list of social service agencies on residents' tax bills rather than approving a sum of money to the organizations at the annual town meeting each year will no longer continue.

The Hope Board of Selectmen unanimously voted at its June 26 meeting to remove the list of provider agencies from the tax bills and instead place the web address to United Midcoast Charities, which helps fund many of the organizations that had previously appeared on tax bills, Town Administrator Jon Duke said.

Since the program began five years ago, there have been declining donations and the reward versus amount of time the town has had to put into it is not worth it, he said.

At the 2007 annual town meeting, residents slashed funding to several agencies and funded a total of $1,602 to four organizations. There had been 13 requests.

In 2008, after the town switched to the donation-based program, a total of $2,312 was donated by 42 donors. Since that time the donations have dwindled, with less people contributing and a smaller total amount raised. For the 2011-2012 fiscal year, 19 people donated a total of $1,807.

"It certainly was a worthy experiment," Duke said.

The Camden Herald reporter Kim Lincoln can be reached at 236-8511 or by email at klincoln@courierpublicationsllc.com.