Bath Valuations and Assessments 2012-2022

City Valuations and Tax Rates

As part of the City's efforts to update our comprehensive plan, we've been reviewing the history of Bath's tax rates and assessments over the past decade. We hope you find this data interesting and helpful!

The reduction in the tax rate in 2019 is due to the city-wide revaluation that was completed for the 2019 tax year.

Since 2012, the percent of our taxable valuation that is business equipment has dropped by nearly 5%. This is because much of the most valuable new business equipment is exempt from taxation under the Business Equipment Tax Exemption (BETE) program.

State Funding and Reimbursements to the City of Bath

The City's tax rate is also affected by State funding and reimbursements provided to the City of Bath. The following charts show three areas where State funding makes a difference.

The recent increase in revenue sharing (and the reduction in state revenue sharing from 2013-2018) make a significant difference in the City's tax rate. We received $1,620,715 in municipal revenue sharing in 2022, which reduced our tax rate by about $1.20.

The homestead exemption is a popular and valuable way to reduce the tax burden for Bath residents and homeowners. Recently, the State Legislature has passed a plan to increase the amount of State reimbursement to the towns for the loss in revenue from the homestead exemption. The number of homestead exemptions varies each year, but in 2022 we have 1,667 homestead exemptions and will receive $620,624.10 in reimbursement. However, all Bath property tax payers pay an additional $18 for every $100,000 in their valuation to make up the $229,545.90 balance of lost tax revenue due to the unreimbursed homestead exemption.

Bath's exempt Business Equipment is valued at almost $200 million in 2022. The State Business Equipment Tax Exemption (BETE) program includes most new (since 2007) business equipment at non-retail businesses. The State of Maine reimburses the City of Bath for a portion of the tax revenue lost from the exemption.

Although Bath will receive $2,470,354.71 from the State of Maine in BETE reimbursement in 2022 (making the State of Maine, in effect, Bath's second largest tax payer), all Bath taxpayers pay more in taxes because Bath is unable to assess the unreimbursed $72,786,081 in exempt business equipment valuation. We each pay an additional $119.18 for every $100,000 in property valuation to make up this loss of valuation.