LEWISTON — The tax reform package approved by state legislators last summer hides at least one nice little surprise for home owners later this year — a boost in the Homestead Exemption.
Lewiston Chief Assessor Bill Healey said in Lewiston the exemption will go from $9,100 to $13,650 for the 2016-17 fiscal year. That will take about $373.60 off the tax bill for every Lewiston resident that can claim the Homestead Exemption.
In Auburn, the Homestead Exemption increases from $10,000 to $15,000 for the 2016-17 fiscal year, paring $318.75 off the average tax bill.
Legislators in June approved a sweeping tax and welfare reform package that kept state sales taxes at 5.5 percent, lowered the top income tax rate slightly, and increased the state tax on hotel rooms.
It also ratcheted up the Homestead Exemption, designed to help full-time state residents reduce their property tax share. The legislation increases the Homestead Exemption from $10,000 to $15,000 for the 2016-17 fiscal year. It increases it again to $20,000 in the 2017-18 fiscal year.
The state reimburses the city for 50 percent of the exempted homestead value.
It reduces taxes by letting residents remove the exemption value from the total assessed value on their homestead, the one Maine property they call home. For example, a home valued at $120,000 would pay property taxes on $105,000 for their homestead.
Lewiston can only claim a portion of the Homestead Exemption because the city is considered to be assessed below market value, Healey said.
According to the state, Lewiston’s assessed value is between 84 and 91 percent of the full market value. An assessed value that’s less than 77 percent of the full value, or 110 percent of it, would trigger a revaluation.
“We are between those levels and we have pretty good equity in our assessments,” Healey said. “They are pretty uniform throughout the city, as far as everybody being within that ratio.”
The final half of the 2015-16 fiscal year taxes are due next month. Healey said the city will use the new Homestead Exemption calculation to figure taxes due in September 2016 and March 2017.
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