Travis Bunn

Founder, AppealDesk · Published March 1, 2026

How Much Can Property Taxes Increase in Maine? 2026 Complete Guide

Updated July 2026

Maine Repealed Its Only Property Tax Cap in 2024

For nearly two decades, Maine towns operated under a levy limit known as LD 1, enacted in 2005. It capped the annual growth of each municipality's property tax levy at the state's average real personal income growth rate plus a property growth factor, and voters could override it. It was never an assessment cap, but it did put a formula between town budgets and your tax bill.

That formula is gone. LD 2102, signed by Governor Mills in April 2024 and effective August 9, 2024, repealed the LD 1 levy limits entirely. Starting with the 2024 tax year, Maine municipalities face no statutory limit on how much their annual property tax levy can grow. If you read an older guide that describes "LD 1 limits" as a protection Maine homeowners still have, it is out of date.

Legislators have not entirely dropped the subject. Bills to reinstate municipal levy limits were debated in the 2025 session, and emergency legislation created a Real Estate Property Tax Relief Task Force with a report due to the Taxation Committee by December 15, 2025 for possible 2026 legislation. Homestead exemption increase bills, including one for seniors 65 and older, were also pending. None of those proposals had been confirmed enacted as of this writing, so for now the honest summary stands: no assessment cap, no levy cap.

Do Property Taxes Go Up Every Year in Maine?

Usually, yes, though not automatically and not uniformly. Your bill is the product of two numbers, and either can move. The first is your town's mil rate, which is set each year by dividing the amount the municipality needs to raise by the total taxable value in town. When budgets rise, and with no levy limit remaining there is nothing in statute to slow that, the rate side of your bill goes up. The second is your assessed value. Maine assessments are supposed to track just value, meaning market value, and state law requires each town's certified assessment ratio to stay at or above 70 percent of just value. That standard, found at 36 M.R.S. Section 327, is what forces towns to run periodic revaluations when market prices pull away from the books.

There is no fixed statewide reassessment calendar. Some towns update values frequently, others go many years between full revaluations. That is why Maine tax increases feel lumpy: your bill may creep up modestly for several years as the mil rate shifts, then jump sharply in a revaluation year when your assessment catches up with the market all at once.

How Much Do Property Taxes Go Up Each Year?

There is no percentage you can rely on, because nothing in Maine law sets one. In a state with an assessment cap, you could say "no more than 2 percent" or "no more than 10 percent." In Maine the answer is: as much as your town's budget and your property's market value dictate. A homeowner whose town holds spending flat and skips revaluation may see almost no change. A homeowner in a town that just revalued after a decade of rising coastal prices can see the assessment side of the equation move by double digit percentages in a single year, entirely legally.

The one thing that does not change in a revaluation is the town's total revenue need. If every property in town doubled in assessed value, the mil rate would roughly halve and the average bill would hold steady. What a revaluation really does is redistribute the levy: properties whose values rose faster than the town average pay more, properties that lagged pay less. That is exactly where errors matter, because if your new assessment is too high relative to what your home would actually sell for, you are carrying a share of the town budget that is not yours.

What Is Maine's Property Tax Rate in 2026?

There is no single Maine property tax rate. Each municipality sets its own mil rate every year, and rates vary widely from town to town depending on local budgets, school costs, and how current the town's assessments are. A town that assesses at close to full market value will show a lower mil rate than a town assessing at 70 or 80 percent of market value, even if the actual tax burden is similar. That makes raw rate comparisons between towns misleading unless you adjust for the certified assessment ratio.

For your own planning, the number that matters is your town's current mil rate, which appears on your tax bill and is available from your municipal assessor's office. Maine Revenue Services also publishes full value tax rates by municipality, which adjust each town's rate to a full market value basis so towns can be compared fairly. If you want a statewide average effective rate for 2026, check a current source such as Maine Revenue Services or the Tax Foundation rather than a fixed figure in an article, because the number moves every year as towns revalue and budgets change.

How Maine Mil Rates Work

Maine bills property taxes in mils. One mil is one dollar of tax per $1,000 of assessed value, so a mil rate of 15.00 means $15 per $1,000. The math is simple: assessed value, minus any exemptions, times the mil rate divided by 1,000.

Take a home assessed at $300,000 in a town with a hypothetical mil rate of 15.00. Without exemptions the bill would be $300,000 times 0.015, or $4,500. With the $25,000 homestead exemption applied, the taxable value drops to $275,000 and the bill becomes $4,125, a savings of $375 at that rate. Substitute your own town's actual mil rate, whether you are in Augusta, Portland, or a small inland town, and the same arithmetic gives you your bill. This is also why the same house would owe very different amounts in different towns: the assessed value may be similar, but mil rates are not.

Maine Homestead Exemption and Other Relief for 2026

The homestead exemption is Maine's broadest relief program. It removes $25,000 from the just value of your home before taxes are calculated, under 36 M.R.S. Section 683. To qualify you must be a Maine resident who has owned a homestead for at least 12 months and occupy it as your permanent residence on April 1 of the tax year. The amount was raised from $20,000 to $25,000 for tax years beginning April 1, 2020, and it has stood at $25,000 since; bills to increase it further were pending in the Legislature but not confirmed enacted as of this writing.

The second pillar is the Property Tax Fairness Credit, a refundable credit claimed on your Maine income tax return that functions as a circuit breaker for households whose property taxes or rent are high relative to income. Effective January 1, 2025, the maximum credit rose from $1,500 to $2,000 for taxpayers under 65 and from $2,000 to $2,500 for taxpayers 65 and older. Seniors who need more than a credit can also look at the senior property tax deferral program, which lets qualifying older homeowners postpone taxes until the home is sold or the estate is settled.

One program you may remember no longer exists: the senior Property Tax Stabilization Program enacted in 2022, which froze bills for homeowners 65 and older, was repealed after a single cycle in 2023. The expanded Property Tax Fairness Credit and the deferral program are its replacements. If a neighbor tells you Maine still freezes senior tax bills, that is the program they are thinking of, and it is gone.

Did Maine Property Taxes Go Up in 2026?

For many homeowners, yes, and the structural reason is the 2024 repeal described above. The 2024 tax year was the first in nearly twenty years in which Maine town meetings and councils could grow the levy without bumping against a statutory formula or taking an override vote. Towns that revalued recently layered market driven assessment increases on top of that. Whether your own bill rose depends on your town's budget and where your assessment sits relative to the rest of town, which is precisely why the first thing to check is not the mil rate but the assessed value printed on your bill.

Statewide, the pressure has been visible in Augusta: the 2025 session debated restoring levy limits, and the Real Estate Property Tax Relief Task Force was told to report by December 15, 2025 with recommendations that could become 2026 legislation. Until something passes, nothing limits next year's increase either.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much can my Maine property taxes increase this year?

There is no legal ceiling. Assessments can rise as much as the market moves, and since the LD 1 levy limits were repealed effective August 9, 2024, town levies can grow without a statutory cap or override vote. Your practical protections are the homestead exemption, the Property Tax Fairness Credit, and the abatement process if your assessment is too high.

Does Maine still have LD 1 levy limits?

No. LD 2102, signed in April 2024 and effective August 9, 2024, repealed the LD 1 municipal levy limits that had been in place since 2005. Proposals to reinstate some form of levy limit were debated in 2025 but had not been confirmed enacted as of this writing.

How often is my property reassessed in Maine?

It varies by municipality. There is no fixed statewide cycle; towns run revaluations on their own schedules. What forces them to act is the state requirement that certified assessment ratios stay at or above 70 percent of just value, so towns where market prices have run well ahead of assessments eventually must revalue. Ask your town assessor when the last revaluation was and whether one is planned.

What is the deadline to appeal my property taxes in Maine?

You have 185 days from your municipality's tax commitment date to file a written abatement application with the assessor. The assessor then has 60 days to respond, and no response counts as a denial. From a denial, you have 60 days to appeal to the Board of Assessment Review or, where none exists, the County Commissioners. Because the commitment date varies by town, confirm yours with the assessor's office before assuming you have time.

What is the Maine homestead exemption amount for 2026?

$25,000 off the just value of your home, for Maine residents who have owned a homestead for at least 12 months and occupy it as their permanent residence on April 1. Legislation to raise the amount, including a bill aimed at seniors 65 and older, was pending but not confirmed enacted, so $25,000 remains the figure to use.

Related Resources

If your assessment looks high, start with our step-by-step guide on how to appeal property taxes in Maine. If you are weighing whether the effort is worth it, read Is It Worth Appealing Property Taxes?, and when you are ready to build your case, see what evidence you need for an appeal.

This article provides general information about Maine property tax laws as of July 2026. Tax laws change frequently, and local rules vary. Consult your town assessor or a tax professional for advice specific to your situation.