CAMDEN — Taxes are rising slightly in Camden, with the Select Board agreeing Sept. 18 to set the mil rate at 13.68, effectively increasing taxes by 1.55 percent from the current year.

“We don't recommend tax increases lightly,” said Camden Town Manager Patricia Finnigan. “We are trying to stabilize the tax rate. The assessors' agent has done really well and he is sensitive to what peoples' budgets are. We are dealing with a weak economy, and the school department has less money coming in from the state.”

While increasing the mil rate from 13.46 to 13.68, the board also set an overlay of $161,562 to help offset the increase. Property owners who dispute their assessments now have 185 days to file an abatement with Assessors' Agent Wes Robinson.

With the increase, for example, a homeowner with property valued at $250,000 will see taxes increase by $55 to $3,420. Although the ratio of assessments to real estate sales increased to 93 percent from 91 percent, "meaning that sales prices were closer to their assessed valuations," wrote Robinson in a meeting memo to the board, assessments still remain below real estate selling prices.

In that memo, he wrote that the town's valuation decreased by $652,700 to $1,101,704,080.

The state's valuation of Camden decreased again this year by $37 million to $1.223 billion.

The decrease reflects general economic conditions, said Robinson, adding that Camden is holding it value better than other towns in the state. In 2011, the state valuation was $1.250 billion; 2010, $1.271 billion, as it was also in 2009; in 2008, it was $1.262; 2007, $1.161 billion; and in 2006 it was $1.116 billion.

Camden taxpayers must produce $14.9 million to fund the municipality's combined school, town and county budgets. According to Robinson, the largest single change was a $201,095 increase in Camden's share of education, through School Administrative District 28 (Camden-Rockport Elementary and Camden-Rockport Middle schools) and the Five Town CSD (Camden Hills Regional High School).

Robinson said commercial property projects are under way, generally on Bay View Street and at the Applewood Apartments along Pearl Street. Still, it was residential property that saw the largest increase in valuation. Robinson attributed that to the completion of condominiums at Knox Mill East, new homes in the Lupine Terrrace subdivision off of Cobb Road and several new single-family dwellings.