Why Did My 2026 Taxes Go Up?
Why Did My Taxes Go Up?
Property values were updated to keep pace with the market. Maine requires municipalities to reassess periodically, and Albion's assessment ratio moved from 76% to 85% of market value. The tax rate was lowered to offset this, so it's not the main reason your bill rose.
The main reason is that school and county costs went up — even while the town's own budget went down about 17% (as no major highway projects were budgeted for this year). Since school costs are more than half the bill, that increase carries through to people's taxes.
Bottom line: it's not that the town is spending more — it's that school and county costs are rising, plus the State requires periodic property value updates. We offset as much as we could by lowering the mil rate from 17.85 to 14.70, but property taxes still went up for everyone. (One mil: Equal to $1 in tax per $1,000 of assessed value).
Click here: Understanding the 2026 Tax Increase
Supporting Numbers
- Total amount approved at last town meeting: $1,724,672
- Town revenue from non-property-tax sources: $689,768
- SAD 49 (school) budget increase: 20% (from $167,055/month last year to $199,952/month this year)
- School payments as share of Albion's budget: approx. 55%
- Town budget: decreased approx. 17% (no major highway projects this year)
- Resulting tax increase: total tax commitment rose from $2,912,184 last year to $3,292,959 this year (approx. 13%)
- Assessment ratio: 76% last year to 85% this year (State minimum: 70%)
- Mil rate: 17.85 last year to 14.70 this year