This article is part of our Guide to Harpswell’s 2026 Town Meeting. Click here to read more.
The town of Harpswell will ask voters to approve a budget increase of 4.5% for the current year at the annual Town Meeting on Saturday, March 14.
Factors in the overall increase include the first payments on a loan for the construction of a boat launch at George J. Mitchell Field and hikes in contracts for law enforcement.
The town’s proposed budget for the 2026 calendar year is $8,185,386, up $356,909 from $7,828,477 in 2025. A draft of the budget that had not yet been finalized as of Feb. 20 showed a 3.3% increase in operational costs to about $6.49 million, along with an 8.5% increase in capital costs to $1.68 million.
Town Administrator Kristi Eiane said the town can sometimes estimate the budget’s impact on property taxes by Town Meeting. But she said there are too many unknown variables this year, including the school district budget, the county budget, and the results of a townwide property revaluation scheduled to wrap up this summer.
Harpswell’s share of the budget for Maine School Administrative District 75 — more than $11 million for the current school year — far exceeds the budget for town government. In 2025, about 25% of property taxes were for town government, in comparison to about 65% for schools and 10% for county government.
The revaluation aims to update the assessed values of all Harpswell properties to reflect market conditions. The goal is to ensure property taxes are distributed fairly based on the current value of homes and businesses.
A higher assessment doesn’t necessarily mean higher taxes. The impact will depend on the new tax rate set by the town and how each property’s updated valuation compares with the others. The town’s overall tax burden won’t change as a result of the revaluation.
The increase in this year’s proposed budget is 2 percentage points less than the increase voters approved in 2025. Last year, the town’s budget grew by about 6.5% from the prior year.
The town’s 2026 budget reflects operations “remaining relatively the same,” Eiane said in an interview. The town is proposing to add a year-round position for a part-time monitor of town lands, such as parks and town landings.
“We used to have more of a seasonal monitor … and now we’re fleshing it out to having someone year-round,” Eiane said.
The position would pay $22 an hour for about 20 hours a week — just under $23,000 a year.
The biggest single line-item increase in this year’s budget is a $155,000 boost in debt service payments to $670,000 — up 30.1% from 2025. Eiane said the change resulted from adding about $177,000 in principal and interest payments on $1.15 million Harpswell borrowed at 5.39% annual interest to build a town boat launch at Mitchell Field.
The contract for the project is $1.55 million, but the town will pay the rest with state grants and local funds previously set aside for the work.
The proposed capital budget had initially been about $115,000 higher to cover the first payments on a planned $6 million municipal fire and rescue station, Eiane said, but officials later decided they wouldn’t need to borrow the funds until 2027.
The debt service increase was partially offset by lower commitments for major road improvements — a 25% decrease to $300,000 — and a 31.6% decrease in “other” capital costs to $160,000. Those costs include spending on various town facilities, vehicles, equipment and infrastructure.
The cost of Harpswell’s patrol contract with the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office will increase by 8.3% to about $561,000 under the budget. Its contract with the Sheriff’s Office for marine patrol would increase by 17.9% to just under $309,000. The town’s contract with Mid Coast Hospital for 24/7 paramedic services is going up by a relatively modest 2% to about $430,000. Together, the three contracts are up $98,553.
Eiane said the contract increases are being driven largely by higher costs for wages and benefits, including the rising cost of health insurance.
General government spending, which includes salaries and benefits for town staff, would increase by 5.5% to roughly $2.2 million under the proposed budget. Eiane said all town staff are getting a 2.8% pay increase this year.
The town recently hired a consultant to evaluate whether town wages and benefits are competitive with other communities. As a result, some employees will receive additional pay adjustments. Eiane said the adjusted roles were found to have been earning less than 80% of what comparable towns pay.
