| 30 August 2010
With property tax bills having landed in a mailbox near you recently, questions abound about what exactly they are used to pay for and how the amount is determined. Property taxes, the oldest form of taxation in Maine, are used to fund local government services and, by Maine state law, are the only revenue communities can use to fund their portion of county government and school district budgets. In Harpswell, half of the Town budget is paid for with property taxes, according to Town Administrator Kristi Eiane.To determine a person's property tax, the Town multiplies the assessed value of the property by the mill rate, then divides that number by 1,000. Harpswell's mill rate in 2009 was $6.19; this year, it is down to $6. Recent mill rates in Bath and Portland were over $17. More than two-thirds of Harpswell's mill rate goes to Maine School Administrative District 75 ($4.14 out of $6), about 10% goes to Cumberland County ($.61) and the rest goes toward funding the Town's budget ($1.25). The Assessing Office determines the value of a property, both its land and building(s), using fair market value, by comparing it to other recent sales in its neighborhood. This generally only happens if multiple sales in a neighborhood indicate a property's assessed value may have gone up or down, Eiane explained. A community's property is reevaluated by the state if the combined assessed value of all its property falls below a certain percentage of what the state believes the community's assessed value should be. The state considers Harpswell's property value to be about $2,000,000,000, according to Eiane. With its current combined assessment at about $1,750,000,000, Harpswell is well above the percentage required by the state. "The last time we had a reevaluation was in 2005," Town Office Assistant Jean Rich said. Property tax bills are sent out in August, with one half due September 15 and the other half due December 15. The bill covers the current calendar year, Tax Collector Martha York explained. In 2009, Harpswell collected over $10,000,000 in property taxes. More than $500,000 in property taxes were not paid on time by property owners. "We have a very good turnout with taxes," York said. "We're very lucky." Property tax relief is available through Revenue Sharing, the State of Maine Circuit Breaker Program and Homestead, Veteran's and Blind exemptions, as well as on properties dedicated to farmland, open space, tree growth or working waterfront. Harpswell's Town Office is located at 263 Mountain Road, Harpswell, and is open Monday to Wednesday and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and Friday from 1 to 6:30 p.m. For more information, call 833-5771 or go to www.harpswell.maine.gov.