Rising property values and years of inflation have pushed property taxes up in recent years — straining household budgets in all 16 counties. But untangling the factors driving up costs, and working to limit them, has long challenged Maine officials.

To cope, the Legislature last year convened a group of 13 people, including lawmakers, citizens and various experts to issue guidance on how best to lower property tax burdens.

After meeting six times in 2025, the state’s Real Estate Property Tax Relief Task Force has released a range of suggestions.

In its interim report, the task force outlined 10 ideas. They include changes to current tax credits and exemptions, adjustments to how Mainers pay their taxes and calls for further review of some issues. The report, dated January, was released online last week. It was due to the Legislature’s Taxation Committee last month.

Here are some of the task force’s key recommendations:

1. Smaller, more regular property tax payments

Generally, property taxes in Maine are due in two installments each year: one in the fall and another in the spring.

But the task force suggested that allowing residents to make smaller, more frequent payments could help some Mainers plan and execute their budgets.

Some municipalities in Maine — including Kennebunkport, Rockport and Bath — already offer payment management programs called “tax clubs.” Residents can sign up to spread their tax payments over several months with no interest charged if payments are made on time.

The task force recommended that the taxation committee solicit feedback from municipal leaders on what challenges might come up in establishing tax clubs, and that it “determine if legislative changes could make tax clubs more accessible to interested municipalities.”

2. Adjusting the property tax fairness credit

The task force unanimously recommended that the taxation committee focus on bolstering the Property Tax Fairness Credit. That credit provides eligible taxpayers a refund on some of what they paid as property tax or rent during the year, depending on their income.

The task force called it “the most targeted tool to provide relief to taxpayers who are struggling” currently available to lawmakers.

The credit varies based on income. For the 2025 tax year, it can be worth up to $1,000, or $2,000 for those over 65, according to Maine Revenue Services.

The committee should pursue ways to apply that credit directly to property taxes as they are paid, the task force recommended. As it stands, the credit comes when taxpayers file their annual returns, which can be weeks or months after they pay taxes.

3. Changes to the homestead exemption

The task force recommended a handful of changes regarding Maine’s homestead exemption. That tool can reduce the value of a qualified homeowner’s primary residence by up to $25,000 for tax purposes, reducing their overall property tax bill.

The actual exemption residents can claim is based on their town’s “certified ratio,” which expresses a property’s assessed value as a percentage of its fair market value. The ratio varies between municipalities.

For example, if a town’s certified ratio is 100, eligible residents can receive 100% of the homestead exemption, or if the ratio is 80, residents can claim 80% — $20,000 — according to the report.

A majority of the body recommended increasing the value of the exemption. The program has been capped at the current level since 2020, according to the Legislature.

Most members of the task force recommended that the maximum exemption be pegged to inflation.

If the taxation committee moves to increase the homestead exemption, most of the task force also recommended that the state reimburse municipalities all of the difference between the new figure and the current $25,000 cap. That would help soften any impact on municipal budgets, the body said in its report.

Currently, the state reimburses municipalities 76% of any tax revenue lost to the homestead exemption. In another recommendation, most of the task force supported increasing that reimbursement rate.

4. Lowering municipal costs

Sharing equipment and resources through regional and statewide partnerships could help lower costs for individual towns and cities, the task force argued.

The body pointed to Cumberland County’s regional assessing program, as well as Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties’ shared use of the Two Bridges Regional Jail as examples of cooperative agreements already working in Maine.

“The Legislature should take an active role in encouraging these partnerships,” the body wrote. It did not provide specific guidance on doing so.

5. Other recommendations

The taxation committee should also consider new ways to educate Mainers on existing relief programs, including by stuffing informational flyers into property tax bills, the task force recommended.

Meanwhile, the body recommended creating working groups to evaluate whether current programs and exemptions are working as intended.

It also recommended that the taxation committee authorize the task force to meet at least six times in 2026. Task force members are currently waiting on additional data from a study they commissioned. Those findings are expected in May, according to the report.