FY2027 Budget Overview
Proposed budget · City of Lewiston & Lewiston Public Schools
The Lewiston City Council voted to delay the citywide property revaluation by one year. FY2027 tax bills will use current (pre-revaluation) assessed values — the same values used for FY2026. The revaluation notice value you may have received is for a future tax year. Learn more about what this means →
* FY2027 rate estimated from proposed budget ÷ pre-revaluation assessed value (revaluation delayed). Previously proposed rate was $19.68 (based on post-reval assessed value).
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City Budget
General Fund · FY2027 Proposed
Capital Improvement Plan
Long-range capital projects funded through municipal bonds
School Budget
Lewiston Public Schools · FY2027 Proposed (School Year 2026–27)
Lewiston voters will decide on the FY2027 school budget at a public referendum on May 12, 2026. The school budget data shown here reflects the School Committee–approved budget. Read Sun Journal coverage →
Tax Bill Calculator
Estimate your FY2026 and FY2027 property tax bill
The City Council voted in April 2026 to delay the revaluation one year. Your FY2027 bill uses the same pre-revaluation assessed value as FY2026, but with higher levies — so the mil rate rises. Enter your current assessed value below.
| FY2026FY26 | FY2027FY27 | ChangeΔ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Assessed Value | — | — | — |
| Homestead Exemption | — | — | — |
| Taxable Value | — | — | — |
| Mil Rate | — | — | — |
| City | — | — | — |
| School | — | — | — |
| County | — | — | — |
| Total | — | — | — |
FY2027 rate calculated from FY27 levy ÷ FY26 assessed value. Actual rate subject to Council adoption.
Adjust city and school spending line by line and see how it affects the mil rate and your personal tax bill in real time.
Phase-In Forecaster
Model your tax bill if the revaluation is phased in over 3 years
- FY2027 will use your pre-revaluation assessed value — the same value used for FY2026. The mil rate will be recalculated against the smaller pre-reval tax base, so it will be higher than the $19.68 originally projected.
- The revaluation has been pushed to FY2028 or later. When it does take effect, new assessed values will apply.
- This tool models a phased revaluation scenario — where new assessed values take effect gradually over 2 years starting in FY2028 (e.g. 75% recognition in FY2028, 100% in FY2029). Enter your pre- and post-revaluation values below to see how your bill might change year by year when the reval eventually applies.
The city is considering spreading the revaluation over 2 years — recognizing 75% in FY2028 and 100% in FY2029. FY2027 is delayed and uses the pre-reval assessed value base. This table lets you model what your tax bill might look like under that scenario. Note: budgets don't stay flat — each levy grows independently each year.
| FY2027FY27 | FY2028FY28 | FY2029FY29 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Citywide AV Base ℹ | — | — | — |
| % of Revaluation Recognized | Delayed | % | % |
| CITY Budget Increase % | 8.7% | % | % |
| City Mill Rate | — | — | — |
| City Total Budget | — | — | — |
| SCHOOL Budget Increase % | 11.0% | % | % |
| School Mill Rate | — | — | — |
| School Total Budget | — | — | — |
| COUNTY Budget Increase % | 20.5% | % | % |
| County Mill Rate | — | — | — |
| County Total Budget | — | — | — |
| Composite Mill Rate ℹ | — | — | — |
| Homestead Exemption ℹ | — | — | — |
| Your Est. Tax Bill | — | — | — |
Build Your Budget
Adjust any line and see how the mil rate and your tax bill change in real time
Budget Calendar
Key dates in the FY2027 budget process
Contact & About
About this tool and how to get in touch
BudgetData.net was created by a Lewiston resident to make the city and school budgets easier to understand. Every figure comes from official public documents published by the City of Lewiston and Lewiston Public Schools. Our goal is to present that data clearly, accurately, and without editorial bias.
This tool may contain errors — all data should be verified against the primary source documents linked below. If you spot something wrong, please use the feedback button or the contact form on this page.
This tool is not affiliated with or endorsed by the City of Lewiston, Lewiston Public Schools, Androscoggin County, their affiliates, staff, or elected officials.
Questions, corrections, partnership inquiries, or media requests — we'd love to hear from you.
City Council
Your elected representatives — share your feedback on the FY2027 budget
Data Sources
Every number on this site comes from official public documents
My Budget
Bookmark or share your personalized budget simulation
Use the Budget Simulator to adjust city and school spending. When you're happy with your numbers, hit 💾 Save / Share in the simulator toolbar — you'll get a link that encodes your full simulation. No account required.
Bookmark the link to return to your simulation later, or share it with anyone — they'll load your exact numbers when they open it.
Go to Simulator →About the Revaluation
Fact vs. fiction — what the numbers actually show about Lewiston's FY2027 property tax revaluation
In April 2026, the City Council voted to delay the revaluation by one year. FY2027 bills will be based on pre-revaluation assessed values. Everything on this page about how the revaluation works remains accurate and relevant — it will apply when the revaluation takes effect in FY2028 or later.
That doesn't mean your taxes went up the same amount.
Property taxes are not calculated from assessed values alone. The formula is:
Mil Rate = Total Tax Levy ÷ (Total Citywide Assessed Value ÷ 1,000)
The key insight: when citywide assessed values rise, the mil rate falls. A revaluation does not automatically raise your tax bill — it resets how the existing levy is distributed across all properties based on their current market values.
Tap any claim to see the explanation.
This is the most common misunderstanding. Your tax bill is calculated using the mil rate — and the mil rate is set by dividing the total tax levy by the total citywide assessed value. When the revaluation roughly doubled assessed values city-wide, the mil rate was cut roughly in half.
If your value went from $150,000 to $357,000 (a 138% increase) but the citywide mil rate fell sharply — because total assessed value nearly doubled city-wide — your bill doesn't increase 138%. The rate adjusts because the same levy spreads across a much larger tax base.
FY26: ($150,000 ÷ 1,000) × 32.78 mills = $4,917
FY27 (reval-only): ($357,000 ÷ 1,000) × ~17.25 mills ≈ $6,158 — not $11,700
The rate adjusts automatically. If your property went up proportionally to the citywide average, the revaluation alone changes nothing. Bill increases come from the budget growing — not from assessed values being updated.
This is false. A revaluation does not change how much the city collects in total. When property values rise across the board, the mil rate falls to offset it — so the same levy is collected from the same total value base.
Revaluation is about fairness: redistributing an existing levy across properties at their current market values. The city collects more money only if the City Council votes to approve a larger budget.
In FY2027, both happened: the revaluation redistributed who pays what, and the Council will likely approve a larger budget. Those are two independent decisions — attributing all of the tax increase to the revaluation is inaccurate.
Assessed values aren't random — they're derived from a statistical model built on comparable sales data. The assessor analyzes actual market transactions in Lewiston and applies them to all properties based on size, age, condition, location, and type.
No mass appraisal model is perfect, and individual properties can deviate from the model. That's exactly why a formal appeals process exists. If you believe your assessed value is materially wrong, you have the right to appeal.
What the revaluation corrects: before 2027, Lewiston hadn't done a comprehensive revaluation in roughly 30 years. Properties that appreciated the most were most underassessed — meaning they had been effectively underpaying relative to market value for decades. Revaluation corrects that inequity.
These are two separate things that happened to coincide in the same fiscal year:
1. The revaluation updated property values to reflect current market conditions. By itself, this changes who pays what share of the levy — but not the total amount collected. The mil rate falls when values rise.
2. The budget increase is what actually raised the total tax levy. The City Council voted to spend more on city services and the school department. That is what causes aggregate taxes to go up.
The timing is not suspicious — revaluations have to happen periodically. Maine law requires municipalities to maintain assessment ratios, and Lewiston was long overdue. The budget is set annually. Both happened in FY2027.
Not necessarily. The variation in individual bill changes reflects how much each property was underassessed relative to its market value before the revaluation.
If your property appreciated significantly since the last revaluation, it was likely being taxed below its fair market share for years. The revaluation corrects that — and your bill reflects the catch-up. Your neighbor whose value barely changed was closer to market value before, so their adjustment is smaller.
This is by design. The goal of revaluation is fairness: each property should contribute to the levy in proportion to what it's actually worth. Properties that were paying below fair share will see a larger increase; properties closer to market value will see smaller changes.
If you believe your specific valuation is wrong, appeal it. If you think the budget itself is too high, that's a question for the City Council and School Board.
Enter your property values to see exactly how much of your bill change comes from the revaluation vs. the budget increase. Or follow along with example values.
Your FY2027 value will be coming by paper notice shortly. Your FY2026 value is on last year's tax bill or at the Tyler Technologies assessor portal →
Before FY2027, Lewiston hadn't done a comprehensive revaluation in roughly 30 years. In that time, real estate markets moved dramatically — but assessed values didn't keep up. Properties that appreciated the most were paying a smaller fraction of the levy than their market value warranted. Commercial properties and lower-appreciation homes were effectively subsidizing higher-appreciation properties.
Revaluation re-levels the playing field: each property's contribution becomes proportional to what it's actually worth today. If your bill went up a lot, your property likely appreciated more than the citywide average. If it went up a little, your property was already closer to market value.
The budget is a separate conversation. You can oppose the spending increase and support the revaluation, or vice versa. They are independent policy questions decided by different processes.
Reporting from the Sun Journal on Lewiston's revaluation.
The Tax Bill guide walks through FY2026 baseline, budget-only, reval-only, and actual FY2027 with a full rate and dollar breakdown.
See exactly where your tax dollars go — department by department. Adjust spending in the simulator to see what it would take to lower the mil rate.
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