How fast are property taxes jumping in Maine? (Orono, Old Town: for sale, how much)

[RiverBird]

Does maine have any legislation that keeps caps on the % rise in property taxes year to year?

Are your taxes jumping up in big increments one year to the next? Is this a problem in the state?

[AustinB]

Originally Posted by newenglandgirl

Does maine have any legislation that keeps caps on the % rise in property taxes year to year?

Are your taxes jumping up in big increments one year to the next? Is this a problem in the state?

No state wide caps. It all depends on the town/township where you live.

[halfabuck]

Mine doubled in one year due to a reassessment and of course being on the water.

[Newdaawn]

Ours haven't gone up in several years but that could change. It depends on how much money the city council and school board wants to spend. The council has "never" as far as I can remember, ever said "no" to the school budget.

[retiredtinbender]

There is a 5% cap on the maximum tax above w"net to be raised". Plus you have LD 1, Tax Levey Limit Survey, that the state planning office, MMA, and counties run. Forms to set a levy limit based on new construction and the previous assessment. Towns can vote to exceed it though. Mostly taxes go up because it costs more run the town; sand, salt, fuel, electricity, etc.

Taxes are a perceptual thing. If you don't make $100,000 they are high. If you float into Maine on a "golden parachute" and retire, they ain't bad especially compared to Dallas/Ft Worth.

[mainegrl2011]

Originally Posted by halfabuck

Mine doubled in one year due to a reassessment and of course being on the water.

Was this on property you own in Maine or property you own in Boston?

[halfabuck]

Originally Posted by mainegrl2011

Was this on property you own in Maine or property you own in Boston?

It is on a property in Maine. We're trying to build a small camp and the taxes went from $1200 to $2400 about 3 years ago. It's a partial as the camp is not completed yet. The other people on the road are paying about $3500 on average. A lot of properties arounnd the lake went up for sale after that happened. The house I live in in Metrowest increased over $2500 in the 15 years I have lived here. As retiredtinbender has said, it costs more to run the cities and towns and of course the costs are passed on to the taxpayer. I still believe there's a lot of waste. In the town where I live now I think there are about 32 town employees who are given vehicles to take home in case of an emergency. I find this to be a little much. Give me that job at 6 figures and I will use my own car. This just being a small part of overspending as far as I am concerned.

[Submariner]

Orono selectmen announced they want to build a $5Million administrative office complex for the city. If they are not stopped quickly, their taxes will soon be going up. Thankfully I do not live in Orono.

I watched a couple years ago when the Old Town Mill shut down. The following year the budget was very tight, so they had to stop a bunch of programs that their highschool had been doing. At the same time the town spent $60k on a new water-fountain/kiddy-amusement thing in the city park [which then busted and required an additional $50k to fix]. And then the following year they decided to build a new PD/FD complex, and a block away a new town office.

Some elected officials really enjoy spending other people's money.

[Nor'Eastah]

There will soon be another side to this story, and not just in Maine.

Lots of municipalities are effectively insolvent. In fact, many whole states are. I doubt if Maine is one of them at this time, but its day is coming. You can't get blood from a turnip. By that I mean, when the taxation exceeds the capability of the residents to pay, the party's over. They either vote with their feet (move away), or become delinquent in their taxes and lose the property. When this happens often enough, the town has to re-examine its spending policies.

To most jurisdictions, a "cut" in spending means that the proposed rise in spending doesn't rise as much as they'd like. REAL cuts are apparently not allowed. This type of mindset has to change. But it won't change unless it is forced to (that's coming, also). And when this happens -- and we are very close to it in a lot of places -- you will see municipal and state bankruptcies like never before. There will be cuts in everything, in a mad dash to save something, to live another day.

I believe that a poor understanding of this self-correction mechanism is behind all the hue and cry over education spending, reckless new projects, entitlements, bargaining rights of public emplyees, and everything else you read in the news. When cities and states begin to default on bonds and on pensions to public employees, then the man in the street will suddenly understand.

So don't worry about tax rates. We will all see them crash, within our lifetimes.

[mainebrokerman]

Originally Posted by forest beekeeper

Orono selectmen announced they want to build a $5Million administrative office complex for the city. If they are not stopped quickly, their taxes will soon be going up. Thankfully I do not live in Orono.

I watched a couple years ago when the Old Town Mill shut down. The following year the budget was very tight, so they had to stop a bunch of programs that their highschool had been doing. At the same time the town spent $60k on a new water-fountain/kiddy-amusement thing in the city park [which then busted and required an additional $50k to fix]. And then the following year they decided to build a new PD/FD complex, and a block away a new town office.

Some elected officials really enjoy spending other people's money.

this is almost criminal- the ones in power-voting for the benefit of themselves-