What is the property tax rate in Maine?
The property tax rate in Maine averages 0.98% of market value for owner-occupied homes (Tax Foundation 2026, using the 2024 American Community Survey). Among the 47 states we cover, that ranks 18th highest, well below neighbors New Hampshire (1.50%) and Vermont (1.51%).
Your actual bill depends on the town. Each Maine municipality commits a tax that pays for its own budget, its share of the county budget and local schools, then divides that amount by its total assessed value to get a mill rate. One mill is $1 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value.
How Maine towns assess apartment buildings
Maine assessors value property at just value, which means market value, as of April 1 each year. Under 36 M.R.S. section 502, the taxable status of property is fixed on that date and the tax year runs from April 1 to March 31. For an apartment building, an assessor can look at sales of similar buildings and at rents and expenses.
Towns do not have to assess at exactly 100%. State law sets a minimum assessment ratio of 70% of just value and says a town should not assess above 110% (36 M.R.S. section 327). Each town reports a certified ratio, and when values in a town drift well below market, the town eventually revalues. Maine sets no cap on how much an assessment can rise in a year.
Mill rates and full value rates
A town’s nominal mill rate is only comparable with another town’s if both assess at the same ratio. A town assessing at 80% of market with a 20-mill rate taxes a property the same as a town at 100% with 16 mills.
To make towns comparable, Maine Revenue Services publishes full value tax rates. Each one divides a municipality’s tax commitment by its state valuation, which is the state’s estimate of the town’s market value, adjusted for homestead and BETE exemptions and tax increment financing. The 2022 statewide full value rate was 11.21 mills, or about 1.12% of market value. That figure covers every kind of property, including businesses and rentals, which is one reason it differs from the 0.98% Tax Foundation number.
Does Maine reassess property when it sells?
No. Maine has no acquisition-value system, so a sale does not by itself reset your assessment to the price paid. The buyer inherits the current assessment for the coming tax year.
That does not mean the sale price is ignored. Assessors aim at just value, and sale prices are the evidence they use when they update values or carry out a town-wide revaluation. If your building is assessed well below what it sells for, the next revaluation is likely to close much of that gap. A buyer will usually underwrite taxes at a market-level assessment rather than your current bill.
Maine property tax rates by county
Maine county full value rates ranged from 7.94 mills in Lincoln County to 16.93 mills in Aroostook County in 2022, the latest year in the Maine Revenue Services full value rate list. These are county totals that combine every municipality in the county, so the rate in your own town can be higher or lower.
The highest county rates in 2022 were in northern and central Maine, and the lowest in coastal Lincoln and Hancock counties and in York County. The percentage column simply converts mills to a share of market value.
| County | 2022 full value rate (mills) | About % of market value | Group |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aroostook | 16.93 | 1.69% | Highest |
| Penobscot | 15.09 | 1.51% | Highest |
| Androscoggin | 14.51 | 1.45% | Highest |
| Somerset | 12.94 | 1.29% | Highest |
| Washington | 12.88 | 1.29% | Highest |
| Oxford | 10.66 | 1.07% | Lowest |
| Franklin | 9.84 | 0.98% | Lowest |
| York | 9.57 | 0.96% | Lowest |
| Hancock | 8.68 | 0.87% | Lowest |
| Lincoln | 7.94 | 0.79% | Lowest |
How to appeal a property tax assessment in Maine
In Maine you appeal by asking for an abatement. You must file a written application with the assessors within 185 days from the date the tax was committed, under 36 M.R.S. section 841. Ask your town clerk or assessor for the commitment date, since it varies by town and the 185 days run from it.
The assessors have 60 days to decide. If they do not send a written decision in that time, the application is treated as denied. You then have 60 days from the decision, or from the deemed denial, to appeal to the board named in the decision notice, which is the board of assessment review in towns that have one (36 M.R.S. sections 842 and 843).
- Commitment date: the 185-day clock starts.
- Within 185 days: file a written abatement application with the assessors.
- 60 days after filing: assessors must decide or the application is deemed denied.
- 60 days after the decision: deadline to appeal to the board named in the notice.
What evidence wins an abatement
For an apartment building, the strongest case is usually income-based. Bring two or three years of rent rolls and operating statements, and show what the building is worth at a market cap rate. If the town’s value assumes rents your units do not get, or ignores a roof or boiler that needs replacing, say so with numbers.
Compare your assessment ratio with the town’s certified ratio. If the town assesses at 85% and your building is assessed at 100% of its value, you have a fairness argument even if the value itself is right. Keep it factual, and file well before the 185 days run out.
Property tax exemptions for Maine apartments
Maine has no general property tax exemption for apartment buildings. The homestead exemption of up to $25,000 of just value under 36 M.R.S. section 683 covers only a permanent Maine resident’s own home that they have owned for the past 12 months, so an owner who lives in one unit of a building may get it for that residence. Public Law 2025, chapter 650 amended section 683 so that this exemption is discontinued for property tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2027, so ask your assessor what will apply after that date.
Some towns use tax increment financing districts, and Maine Revenue Services adjusts its full value rates for them. A TIF arrangement is a deal with the town rather than an exemption, and a buyer will want to know whether one covers the property and when it ends.
Worked example: property tax on a $2M Maine apartment building
Take a 20-unit building with a market value of $2,000,000. At the 2022 statewide full value rate of 11.21 mills, the yearly tax would be about $22,420. In a town matching the Androscoggin County rate of 14.51 mills it would be about $29,020, and at Lincoln County’s 7.94 mills about $15,880.
Now the sale. Suppose the building sits in a town with a 14-mill rate and is assessed at $1,600,000, below its $2,000,000 sale price. The current bill is $22,400. The sale does not change it right away, but if the town later revalues and brings the building up to $2,000,000 at the same rate, the bill rises to $28,000, which is $5,600 a year more. At an illustrative 6% cap rate, that cuts about $93,333 from what a buyer can pay.
In practice, a town-wide revaluation usually lowers the mill rate as values rise across the town, so the increase on one building is often smaller. The point for sellers is that a low assessment is worth less to a buyer than it is to you.
| Scenario | Value taxed | Rate | Yearly tax |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statewide full value rate | $2,000,000 | 11.21 mills | $22,420 |
| Androscoggin County rate | $2,000,000 | 14.51 mills | $29,020 |
| Lincoln County rate | $2,000,000 | 7.94 mills | $15,880 |
| Assessed below market (hypothetical) | $1,600,000 | 14 mills | $22,400 |
| After revaluation to sale price | $2,000,000 | 14 mills | $28,000 |
Proration and transfer tax at closing
Maine fixes the taxpayer as of April 1, so whoever owns the building on that date is the person the town assesses for the tax year that runs to March 31. If you sell in, say, September, the bill is still in your name for that year, and how the year’s tax is shared with the buyer is a matter for the purchase contract. Settle it in writing and check which payments you have already made before the closing statement is drawn up.
The real estate transfer tax is a separate charge. Under 36 M.R.S. section 4641-A it is $2.20 for each $500 of value, half from the seller and half from the buyer. For transfers on or after November 1, 2025, Maine adds $3.80 per $500 on the value above $1,000,000. On a $2,000,000 building, that comes to $16,400 in total, so on larger sales the transfer tax is now a line both sides notice.
Neither cost changes the building’s assessment, but both affect what each side walks away with, and a buyer who expects a higher tax bill after a revaluation will often raise it during negotiation.
What to gather on property tax before you sell
Buyers value apartment buildings on net operating income, so every dollar of tax comes straight off price at the market cap rate.
- The last three tax bills and the current assessment card.
- The town’s certified ratio and the date of its last revaluation.
- Any abatement you filed and the decision.
- Any TIF arrangement on the property and its end date.
- Whether the town has scheduled a revaluation.
Selling an apartment building in Maine
Skyline buys apartment buildings with five or more units in Maine, including higher-rate areas such as Androscoggin and Penobscot counties. We buy directly, close on your timeline, and can work inside 1031 deadlines. We underwrite from your real tax bills and assessment, so you know how property tax shaped our number.
For the tax on the sale itself, see Maine capital gains tax on real estate. For notice, deposit and rent rules a buyer takes on, see Maine landlord-tenant law for apartment owners.
