Lewiston councilors weigh phased-in property revaluation, one-year delay or proceed-as-planned

Administrator Keenrath opened the discussion at the Lewiston budget workshop by laying out three approaches to the citywide property revaluation: proceed as scheduled, delay the reval for one year, or phase in assessment increases over multiple years.

“Option one obviously is to proceed as is. Option two that’s been discussed is to do a one-year delay to allow people time to prepare,” Administrator Keenrath said, adding that a phased-in approach over two to three years would spread the rate of increase and could be combined with a one-year hold. She said a phased approach is rare in Maine, would require reconfiguration of tax-billing software and may incur additional vendor costs from Tyler Technologies as the city studies implementation details.

Administration reported the city’s total valuation near $5.0 billion, up from an earlier estimate of $4.4 billion, which would allow some downward adjustment of the mill rate. Using the updated numbers, the administration said a home currently assessed at $100,000 would average to about $238,000 under the new assessments (an illustrative average increase of roughly $780); a $150,000 home would average to about $357,000 (an illustrative increase of about $1,200). The administration emphasized these figures are averages and will vary by location and property type.

Several councilors said a phased approach or a one-year hold would give residents on fixed incomes time to adjust. “I would like to see the one-year hold personally, and then a two‑ to three‑year span it out,” Councilor Longchamps said. Councilor Roy also favored a one-year hold followed by multi-year phase‑in, noting the timing could help the school budget and allow residents to pursue property tax credits or senior discounts.

Councilors asked administration to pursue more detailed, written information from Tyler Technologies about feasibility and cost. Administration said it would seek legal and technical guidance and return with options and cost estimates.

Next steps: Administration will report back with technical details and cost estimates for any phased implementation or delay; the council did not take a formal vote at the workshop.