CAMDEN — Camden’s mil rate has been set at 12, an increase over last year's mil rate of 11.5. Taxes were committed Aug. 26, and property tax bills should be circulating this week, said Camden Assessor Kerry Leichtman, Aug. 31. 

The mil rate is the math unit used to calculate how much to tax a piece of property to fund voter-approved budgets. A mil is the tax per $1,000 in assessed value. For example, a home with an assessed value of $150,000 and a mil rate of 20 ($20 of tax per $1,000 of assessed value) would pay $3,000 in annual property taxes.

The mil rate increased by 50 cents for several reasons, Leichtman and Finance Director Jodi Hanson both said.

While Camden's municipal budget shrunk ($13,371,065, representing a 15.69 percent decrease from the 2025-2026 budget of $15,858,620), the budgets of Knox County, as well as School Administrative District 28 (Camden-Rockport K-8) and the Five Town CSD (Camden Hills Regional High School) all increased.

The Five Town CSD budget for 2026-2027 is $19.2 million while the SAD 28 budget is $22.1 million. Camden's share of both of those is $17 million, up $520,000 from 2025.

Of that increase, $93,750 was dedicated to cover the legal settlement dating back to 2021, when it was agreed in court that the SAD 28 overcharged Rockport and undercharged Camden by $750,000. Rockport had been over-billed from 2009-2010 until 2019-2020 because of an inaccurate cost-sharing calculation formula.

Camden's share of the  $18.9 million Knox County 2027 budget is $2,462,897, up $90,000 from 2025.

The mil rate also increased because Camden's revenue from financing decreased over last year, said Hanson.

In 2025-2026, Camden had $8,523,733 in reported financing from the bond bank to offset taxes. In the 2026-2027 budget, that number decreased to $5,393,749.

Those revenues represents bond and financing proceeds for various projects, including the Town Office HVAC improvements ($240,000); Public Safety Building renovations ($1.2 million); and two Public Works trucks ($316,000).

Additionally, the 2025-2026 budget had used $1.3 million from Unassigned Fund Balance to further offset property taxes. The town did not use that fund in the 2026-2027 budget to offset property taxes.

Other revenue decreases in the 2026-2027 budget include $100,000 less in interest earned on cash deposits at the bank, given lowered interest rates. Hanson said she reduced the anticipated revenue from interest earned at the bank from $300,000 to $200,000.

Another decreased revenue line included lower short-term rental anticipated income from $175,000 to $98,000.