After a year in which many Mainers were burdened with skyrocketing property tax bills, state lawmakers are poised to consider a bill giving senior citizens an additional measure of relief.
Introduced by Sen. Rick Bennett (R-Oxford), LD 7 — An Act to Increase the Homestead Property Tax Exemption for Residents 65 Years of Age or Older — would increase the value of the homestead exemption to $75,000 for Mainers 65 and up.
Currently, the max value of the homestead exemption is set at $25,000.
Under the proposed law, seniors would qualify for the increased exemption if they have resided in their home for at least the past ten years.
Generally speaking, the homestead exemption reduces a property’s valuation by a given amount for the purposes of calculating property taxes.
If approved, the increased exemption would be applicable for the tax year beginning on April 1, 2025.
Click Here to Read the Full Text of LD 7
In 2024, many Maine homeowners saw their property tax bills increase by double-digit percentages, placing a significant financial strain on those with fixed incomes.
Considering Maine already has the fourth highest tax burden in the country — and the highest property tax burden of any state — Mainers have been feeling the property tax pinch more than ever.
In recent months, the Maine Wire received numerous messages from 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.
[RELATED: Sticker Shock — Maine Homeowners Burdened by Property Tax Hikes Following Recent Revaluations]
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.
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.
[RELATED: Mainers Bear Nation’s Highest Property Tax Burden, 4th Highest Tax Burden Overall — WalletHub Study]
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.
[RELATED: Janet Mills Signs Bill Repealing 2005 Limit on Municipal Property Tax Hikes]
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.
The now-repealed law — referred to as LD 1 — was originally implemented in January 2005 after “countless hours” of consideration by the Legislature’s Joint Select Committee on Property Tax Reform” and was ultimately passed “by wide margins in both houses,” according to a 2006 report on the law.
“LD 1 limits growth of each municipality’s property tax levy to the growth rate of Maine’s average personal income (adjusted for inflation) plus the municipality’s property growth factor,” the report explains. “The property growth factor is different for each town; it is a measure of the new development occurring within the municipality’s borders.”
In April, the Democrat-controlled legislature passed a new bill repealing the property tax cap which Gov. Janet Mills (D) then signed into law.
the real problem is government spending…. giving seniors a break is just going to pass the burden on to the rest of us. the system is broken, this will not fix anything….sthe big plan here is poor under 65 lose their homes due to back taxes while those over 65 lose their homes when they die due to maine care recouping costs for “end of life care”
Didn’t we do this already, and Janet Mills cancelled it so she would have more money for the illegal invaders?
Maine dems, whhhaaaaat? give back money? Oh no, oh no, oh no no no no. Then they laughed and laughed as they counted their newly self imposed raises, good times.
Move out now. It will not get better!
First why not find out why property taxes are so high, solve the problem instead of making more problems. Same with affordable housing, why is there a housing shortage? I see about 1/2 the homes in our area dark, some are short term rentals, some are summer homes. There seems to be no shortages of homes being built.
WE need a Maine D.O.G.E. – Guarantee there is room for elimination of at least 30% of the cost of government in Maine! It has taken many years to get to the socialist state that Maine is now, and it will take a few years to get back where we should be. That would include reducing the cost of education AND reducing illegal immigrants/residents that are getting so many benefits!
Just another Democrat patch jub! Get it right the first time.
Even were to such a tax break for those of us over 65 to pass, it will likely be subject to a socialistic “Means Test”. That mean test will mean that those of us who worked and saved all of our lives so that we will have more income than “social security” will not qualify for the tax reduction.
Does anyone really think the special interest democrats will vote to help non special interest seniors in Maine?
Increasing the homestead exemption from $25k to $75k is only a bandaid solution! If you really want to FIX high property taxes we need to get rid of all the democrats in Maine government from the Governor down to the legislature! If Janet Mills has shown us one thing since she’s been in office it’s that she likes to spend money that she doesn’t have. We need to take back our state because we’re headed in the wrong direction!
No one in Augusta gives a damn about Maine citizens and I mean both GOP and Democrat all they care about is power and lining their pockets. They just gave themselves a 61% pay increase on our backs and the best part is Mainers vote these people back in to office!!! Think about that!!!
Never,ever vote for a Democrat they will always have their hand in your pocket looking for more of something.
No way in Hell the Socialist Democrats in Augusta will part with a dime! Toad Mills has already driven the state into bankruptcy. Legislators voted themselves a 61% pay raise. Property taxes are the highest in the country. And still they waste money on illegal invaders!
As long as Socialists hold power, Maine is fucked! Doesn’t matter what age you are!
At the same time Bennet wants to increase pay for Leftist teachers. What does he think will happen to property taxes with State mandates for higher pay?
I thought getting a reverse mortgage was the fix all.
The problem is reevaluation of residential property is shifting the tax burden from commercial to residential. Municipalities need to figure out a better way of valuing commercial property.