Tax Trends in Maine Towns

Foreword Taxes on real estate and personal property are increasing in Maine. In an attempt to find out for what this additional revenue is spent, tbe Extension Service has summarized the receipts and expenses of forty-six Maine towns for the six years 1932 to 1937 inclusive. Income from assessments on real estate and personal property was the chief source of revenue. It is this tax, which must be paid, that concerns farmers and land and home owners. Receipts from the state for specific and supervised uses were an important source of income. These grants varied according to the size of the town and the offset appropriations made by the town. The smaller towns received considerably more from the state than they paid to the state in direct taxes. School and highway costs amounted to over 50 per cent of the actual expenses. The most important school expenditure was for teachers\u27 salaries, and the most important highway expenditure was for constructing and maintaining roads and bridges not in the state highway system. The very small towns lost population during the period studied, and their expenses per capita increased more rapidly than those of the larger towns.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/books_pubs/1158/thumbnail.jp