Mainers statewide have been experiencing sticker shock when reviewing their property tax bills for the upcoming fiscal year.
From higher rates and higher valuations to decreased exemptions and stretched household budgets, Maine residents — especially those with fixed-incomes or lower incomes — are getting squeezed.
Considering Maine already has the fourth highest tax burden in the country — and the highest property tax burden of any state — Mainers are feeling the property tax pinch more than ever.
The Maine Wire has received numerous messages from Maine taxpayers in towns from Gray to Newcastle to Carthage reporting dramatic property tax hikes reflected in their FY25 bills.
While rising budget costs are often to blame for more expensive property tax bills, many of these increases appear to be the direct result of revaluations that have been conducted in response to the changes that have taken place in Maine’s housing market.
Under Maine’s constitution and state law, real estate must be assessed “according to [its] just value,” which according to case law, is equivalent to its market value, or the price for which one could reasonably expect it to be sold.
A law approved by the Legislature in 1975 directed municipalities to have a minimum assessment ratio of 70 percent, meaning that the tax assessed value of a given property is not supposed to be less than 70 percent of its market value.
Generally speaking, municipalities undertake revaluations when they fall below this 70 percent threshold, whether that be due to the passage of time or a significant shift in the housing market.
Tied to this ratio are the value of residents’ property tax exemptions — such as the homestead exemption. For example, if a municipality’s property assessment is calculated to be at 80 percent of market value, homeowners are only eligible to take 80 percent — or $20,000 — of the state’s $25,000 homestead exemption.
Since 2019, home prices in Maine have nearly doubled, according to data tracked by the St. Louis Federal Reserve. Those new sale prices contribute to the new valuations of houses that aren’t on the market, which means Mainers who have owned their homes for 20 years or more are suddenly on the hook for paying twice the property tax — even if their income has hardly grown.
The most recent round of revaluations in cities and towns throughout the state have caused many homeowners to experience sudden, substantial, and unexpected increases in their property tax bills for FY25.
The Town of Newcastle — located in Lincoln County with a population just over 1,800 — was one of many municipalities to conduct a revaluation this year, resulting in significantly higher property tax bills for residents.
According to a presentation released by the Town, the average assessed value of real estate increased by 40 percent.
Despite the Town’s mill rate — or the amount of tax charged per $1,000 of property valuation — decreasing for FY25, many residents’ taxes increased as a direct result of the reevaluation.
One Newcastle resident who reached out to the Maine Wire said their property tax bill increased 51 percent compared to the previous year.
Another resident of Newcastle told the Maine Wire that their property taxes, along with many others, “took a huge jump with no warning.” In their case, their property tax bill increased by 30 percent, rising from about $6,000 per year to $8000 per year.
The Town of Gray — located in Cumberland County with a population of just over 8,000 — also recently conducted revaluations.
According to KRT Appraisal, the firm hired to conduct the revaluation, Gray had previously assessed real estate at 57 percent of its market value. Following this revaluation, however, properties are now estimated to be assessed at 95 percent of their market value.
One Gray resident told the Maine Wire that their home, which was built about fifteen years ago for nearly $200,000, has just been revalued at over $500,000.
Residents of South Portland were shocked earlier this month when they received their FY25 property tax bills, most of which were significantly higher than in previous years as a result of the City’s most recent revaluation.
The City’s Frequently Asked Questions page revealed that a primary effect of this revaluation was to shift the majority of the tax burden from commercial properties to residential ones, as “commercial property sales…have been outpaced by the residential market.”
“In other words, property value growth on the residential side will outpace growth on the commercial side and as a result, residential property owners will bear more of the property tax burden,” the City wrote.
A similar dynamic played out in Brunswick this year, where property taxes were also rebalanced between residential and commercial properties, resulting in some owners of modest homes seeing massive increases in their tax bills.
Bradley — a Penobscot County town with just over 1,500 residents — also conducted a revaluation for the coming fiscal year.
“This is a restoration of equity and not a back-door tax increase. A revaluation has nothing to do with the size of the overall tax commitment; it merely adjusts how it is apportioned,” the town said in a statement posted to their website. “All Bradley properties are valued from the same land and building schedules. No one is catching a break nor is anyone being treated unfairly.”
One Bradley resident wrote to the Maine Wire saying that they have lived in their home for more than three decades and saw their property taxes increase by $700 this year.
According to a Frequently Asked Questions document posted to the town’s website, Bradley’s assessment ratio was calculated at 69 percent prior to this revaluation. Property values had last been reassessed in 2009.
In addition to these widespread revaluations, Mainers have also been facing significant property tax increases as a result of heightened local spending.
In Maine’s larger municipalities, growing General Assistance and education expenses have placed pressure on local budgets.
Towns that have seen an influx of asylum seekers relocating, and therefore a need to hire English as a Second Language (ESL) instructors throughout the school systems, have experienced even more pressure to increase local taxes.
For example, Westbrook voters narrowly approved a $51 million school budget accompanied by a 13 percent property tax increase earlier this year.
Voters in Lewiston rejected two iterations of the school budget — both carrying a property tax increase of about 13 percent — before approving a version totaling $109.6 million and raising taxes by 9 percent.
Gorham’s $53 million school budget — which necessitated a 9.05 percent property tax increase — was approved by just two votes. Originally believed to have prevailed by four votes, a recount revealed a much slimmer margin.
According to a recent study conducted by personal finance website WalletHub, Mainers currently bear the nation’s highest property tax burden, contributing an estimated 4.86 percent of their personal income to these taxes.
For comparison, residents of Alabama — the state found to have the lowest property tax burden — pay just 1.33 percent of their personal income in property taxes.
The end of rising property tax bills may be nowhere in sight. Several towns have yet to undergo their revaluations, meaning similar hikes could be coming down the pipeline over the next 2-3 years.
Adding to the concern is that the State Legislature’s decision earlier this year to abolish the 2005 cap placed on municipal property tax increases.
In April, the Democrat-controlled legislature passed a new bill repealing the property tax cap which Gov. Janet Mills (D) then signed into law.
I’m in So. Ptld.
Our taxes are up $1000.
We’ve lived in this house since 1990.
In effect we are paying taxes on unrealized gains or profits.
The city says our house is worth $377,000. Up from $300,000 last year.
Zillow and Redfin say we could sell for $477,000.
Not likely.
We paid off the house over 10 yrs ago but it now costs us almost$5,000 per year to live in it.
This is like going to the City Hall to register my 2008 Jeep Grand Cherokee and being told that if I bought a new one it would cost $67,000 so my new excise tax will be based on that and not on the 2008 cost.
Keep bringing in illegals and dumbing down education and creating more new city govt jobs and expanding departments. The money has run out but these people who seem to have no business sense keep spending.
In So. Ptld. the reevaluation should have been done in the beginning of the year. Our home values didn’t suddenly jump since June but they didn’t tell us about it until after the budge was passed.
Oh and now the school dept wants $16.3 million to do routine maintenance and to rebuild the current athletic field and add 3 other new “practice/flex” fields and build a new snack bar with full kitchen.
Talk about tone deaf and dumb.
So. Ptld. schools used to be in the top 5 or 10 in the state and now they’re the 3rd worst.
Uninformed voters will continue to vote for these people and then wonder why things are so bad.
We have lived here 20 or so years because property tax was less than NH’s. Now that they are comparable we’ll be moving to NH to not pay state tax on our sizeable retirement accounts. I feel for the poor souls who cant pull roots and hope your liberal nightmare ends soon.
No one in Maine should be shocked that his property tax bill is higher….if he’s paying attention. That’s exactly how Democrats run things and will continue to run things until people smarten up and vote the socialist bums out of office!
Support the ethnic cleansing of Russian speakers in the Donbas? How about ethnic cleansing in Palestine? Want to rid the world of China’s so called unfair advantage in economics and industry cause they’re better than you!? Great! Pay your taxes you babies. Land grabs and genocide cost a lot of money.
Mills again goes against the people of Maine!!!! Repealing the tax cap hurts MAINERS!
The increase in revenue will not go back into supporting Mainers but will be added to the monies being spent on ILLEGALS and turning Maine into ‘California East’.
Any one who thinks they own their house are delusional, stop.saying the ever increasing property tax and see who rally owns your house. And now we know why the democrats reversed themselves on the property tax freeze for the elderly. By 2030 you will own nothing, especially if Harris is elected.
This is what happens when you vote the DemocRATS-Marxists into office. All of you who voted for these fake, phony, frauds have no excuse. All of you allowed the cap on property taxes to be rescinded.
What did you think all these towns were going to do? From Westbrook to Augusta and north these people love to spend your money and you let them do it!!! I vote no on every bond issue that spends my money and any budget increases. When are all you of going to learn?
again mills against the people, she needs to go before she ruins Maine any further
dims always run states into the ground and hurt the people
Yayyyyy! Keep voting for democrats. OUTSTANDING!!!!! We’re number 1. we’re number 1.
Yep, keep voting for the SCUM,that run everything and wonder y you keep paying MORE . unless idiots! BEND OVER.
VOTE THESE SCUM OUT AND RUN FOR LOCAL OFFICES
The whole property tax system is bass ackwards. The town has a budget that’s approved by the residents. AFTER that, you figure out what you need to charge in taxes to pay for that.
Because property values have gone up 40-50%, the towns will now collect more taxes than before with no correlation to the town’s’ budget.
That’s crazy.
Sorry to see that the Maine Wire gives a byline to the now Woke Libby Palanza: “Towns that have seen an influx of asylum seekers“. No, this is an influx of illegal aliens! Just because these tax surges have not yet come to your small town, smile not. Prepare to drop trou and put your elbows on the table, because increased costs will mean increased tax bills all over the once great State of Maine.
When you cut through the hype and details, it comes down to government spending too much of OPM. We get what we vote – we now work and save for the benefit of government.
You will pay more and you will like it. Ain’t gonna change and it probably doesn’t matter who is voted in. We are too far down the path to reverse the slide. both parties are on the same track. One is just going at a slower rate than the other.
Keep voting for Democrat candidates locally, State or Federal and this is only the beginning.
If elected or re-elected with more years in power what has happened the last few years is going to seem like a warm up to what’s to come. Make no mistake! Their policies are causing inflation and driving our standard of living into a downward spiral. It’s not about you the average Mainer. To them it’s all about special interest. It’s only going to get worse for all of us if people keep voting the same agenda driven people into office.
Think about that when you speak with your lefty friends or support their businesses.
Vote early! Voting or not Voting has Severe Consequences!
25% here in Yarmouth…. Thanks Yarmouth Democrats!.. maybe voters will take that under consideration next time, or are they to tied to their team?
Hope REAL MAINERS wake up!!! These rich , Communist, out of staters that hqve moved here during covid to escape their own destructive Marxist states that they created to begin with until it began to affect them personally. These people come here with deep pockets from shitty, Communist states like California, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, ect. , you name it and buy up property to build mini mansion that tax locals out their homes!!!! Bringing their Communist ideas to literally change Maine into the shithole they escaped from. And don’t forget the ILLEGAL ALIENS that have INVADED the United States and Maine , using up most Medicaid services , and do so for many years! Time for WELFARE REFORM to be on the ballot!!!!! Janet Mills and your state representatives are out to destroy life for Mainers! They are planning to bring
in many more ILLEGALALIENS to Maine! How is this sustainable to average Mainers for we will be paying for these people through taxes, for years!!!!! Please pay attention to what your state representatives are doing to destroy our state. Pay attention to the legislation they are pushing through!!! They need to be called out and held responsible because they are not representing their constituents. I don’t think most Democratics even fully grasp what their political party is doing for local media in Maine acts more like government propaganda and doesn’t do its due diligence and report the news without bias.
Since eligibility for aid to poorer Mainers from the state is based on their home’s value, jacking up the alleged (though unproven) value is going to knock a lot of Mainers off of eligibility lists. Perhaps that is the real reason for this action. After all, even if well-heeled ppl did suddenly inflate the value of Maine homes by buying them, they are still the least likely ppl to suffer from taxes going up. This is war on the poor. Probably to be expected when we allow our votes to be “counted” by computers running on software which is protected from scrutiny by the voting public.
Reevaluation doesnt really have anything to do with your property taxes going up.
Your town budget is the budget.. if every house is suddenly worth more after a reevaluation, then the mil rate decreases to hit that budget. The only factor in singling out people is if you had major renovations and upgrades to your home that increased your value more than others.
When reevals lead to everyones taxes going up then the town also snuck in a giant budget increase and is blaming it on that.