Topsham budget vote could raise taxes about 5%, 9.3% with schools, county

A median Topsham home could see about $249 more a year in town taxes alone if voters approve the municipal budget as drafted, and roughly $462 more if school and county spending land the way town officials expect. Using Topsham’s current tax rate of $12.80 per $1,000 of assessed value and the town’s median owner-occupied home value of $388,500, the current annual bill works out to about $4,973 before any new increase is added.

That increase is headed to a special town meeting on Wednesday, May 13, at 7 p.m. in the Forum Room at Mt. Ararat High School, after a public hearing on the draft warrant on April 16. The warrant comes as School Administrative District 75 has already approved a $61.2 million budget, a plan that would require Topsham, Harpswell, Bowdoin and Bowdoinham to raise about $3 million more from taxes than in the previous year. Town Manager Mark Waltz said the town budget would raise Topsham’s tax burden about 5 percent on its own, but that the combined town, county and school impact could push the overall increase to about 9.3 percent.

The municipal budget going to voters is $14.84 million, a little higher than Waltz’s original proposal of about $14.67 million. Waltz said the difference came in part from the Topsham Select Board’s push to spend more on paving to address potholes, while wages, employee benefits and especially health insurance continued to drive costs upward. The budget process moved through multiple department presentations and joint select board-finance committee meetings in February and March, and the town’s budget message says the final tax rate depends on both items officials can control, such as the town budget and unallocated surplus, and outside pressures including the MSAD 75 budget, Sagadahoc County, state revenue sharing, aid to education and valuation changes.

Beyond the main budget, residents will vote on warrant articles that could shape future development and public facilities. One would narrow the Union Park Road tax increment financing district to support a four-story apartment building intended for workers, a technical change tied to Maine Housing requirements. Another concerns a possible Topsham Community Center site near the fairgrounds and the Route 196 bypass, with the town calendar listing a community center meeting on April 27 as the discussion continues. For Topsham voters, the May 13 meeting is not just about one budget line; it is a decision point on roads, housing, public space and the size of the next tax bill.