Mount Desert Heads for a New Assessment Carrie Jones Jul 08, 2026 a house made out of money on a white background Photo by Kostiantyn Li on Unsplash The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by First National Bank. MOUNT DESERT—All taxable real estate owners in the town of Mount Desert will have their property reassessed. “It’s been almost twenty years since we’ve done that,” Assessor Kyle Avila told Mount Desert Selectboard members, July 6. When a town reassesses a property, it determines the “assessed value” of a property, which isn’t quite the same as a “market value,” which is the likely price someone will pay for your property if it’s for sale. A property’s assessment impacts its tax bill. It basically determines your property tax liability. For the sort of assessment that Mount Desert is about to undergo, it means that people will come to homes, take photos, and take exterior measurements. They will also ask property owners questions. “There’s two real classes of property that are sort of falling through the cracks that we need to capture. It’s the really uh less valuable homes that aren’t maintained that I don’t know about. You know, they’re not only permits or anything and those homes are becoming depreciated. And so we need to capture that and recognize that those valuations may be high um and adjust them accordingly,” Avila explained. State law requires towns to keep the assessment ratio of properties above 70% and below 110%, he explained to the board. If a town isn’t in that ratio, it impacts state subsidies. Those subsidies help support portions of school budgets. Property taxes are based on assessments and the town’s budget and mill rates. It wasn’t just the homes that have lower monetary value that were “falling through the cracks,” Avila explained. “The other end of that spectrum are the really nice properties where they’ve been doing renovations, maintenance that doesn’t require permits and so I’m not aware of those either. So there are houses that have been almost completely renovated, but I haven’t been able to go and reassess them because they’re sort of flying under radar. So those are the real uh big reasons to do the reval,” Avila said. Avila came to town in 2007 right around the time of the last full assessment of this sort. Since then, he’s done proactive statistical assessments, but not a full measure and list revaluation. “It’s been almost twenty years since we’ve done that,” Avila said. “So, it's a big project and this is something that is uh typically done every 10 to 15 years.” David MacDonald praised Avila’s attention and work that’s prevented having to do this sort of project. It will cost the town $227,800 in a contract with Vision Government Solutions Inc. (VGSI), but the money is already in the budget. "One of the things I think everyone who’s been around for a while should pat themselves on the back for is that we added this into the CIP plan a bunch of years ago gradually building up the money for the day that this would arrive, and then, thanks to Kyle’s work and to them, this is coming in on budget. So there’s no additional taxes that needs to get raised for us to be able to do this. So this isn’t going to have any impact on there because we’ve already raised money for it. And so hats off past versions of yourselves came in at the end of this, but it’s really nice,” said Town Manager Alex Kimball. The town received just one bid after it sent a formal request for proposals (RFP) on May 11, 2026. “One bid was received by the deadline on June 30, 2026,” Avila explained in the memo. The work will being in spring, 2027 with data collection and market sales analysis. The field data, where contracted employees go out to properties will then occur. “Updated valuations will then be presented to the assessor for review in early 2028. Once accepted by the assessor, notification letters will be sent to property owners in the Spring of 2028,” Avila said. People can dispute the findings if they choose to. “Informal hearings and final adjustments will be completed prior to July 1, 2028,” Avila explained. Martha Dudman said a public forum before the visit starts would be helpful so that people who want to can come and ask questions. “You can’t publicize this enough. You have to, the more you talk about this the better it goes. It’s sort of this universal straight line,” Kimball said. “The towns that put in more time had an easier time. The towns that tried to talk about it less always had ways of people getting upset.” Other towns, such as Bar Harbor and Southwest Harbor, have had residents worry over assessments. “It does happen all the time with communities where the results come back and everyone’s got sticker shock because things have changed drastically,” Kimball said. “More often than not, those are communities that have changed assessors three times in the interim, went six months without one, tried to go to some private company, then changed mind again, and they fell behind on it. That hasn’t occurred here.” According to Wallet Hub, Maine has the fifth highest property tax burden in the country. AUDIT The town will continue its auditing with James Wadman, out of Ellsworth. There are new timelines for the coming year. APPOINTMENTS The board appointed Durlin Lunt to the Housing Authority to serve from July 6, 2026 – March, 2031. The board appointed Jesse Hartson to fill one of the vacant seats on the MDIHS Board of Trustees until the May 3, 2027 Town Meeting. LIQUOR LICENSE RENEWALS The board renewed the liquor license of Michael Boland/Choco-Latte, Inc. doing business as Copita at 102 Main St., Northeast Harbor. It also renewed the liquor license of Katherine M. Conley doing business as Lighthouse Inn and Restaurant at 12 Main Street, Seal Harbor. It also renewed the liquor license of 14 Sea Street doing business as The Docksider at 14 Sea Street, Northeast Harbor. SECURITY CAMERA, ROAD STRIPING AND STORMWATER BASIN The board approved paying Omega Security Group $5,915 for the addition of a security camera system at the Seal Harbor Pier. It also reviewed and approved a contract with On The Line, Inc. for annual road striping in an amount not to exceed $15,000. It tabled a contract with Clarke Construction for the installation of a stormwater catch basin for $336,930. LINKS TO LEARN MORE Meeting agenda HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it. But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other. We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach, but every one of our stories takes time to write, and your support keeps The Bar Harbor Story going. If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship. It truly helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light. Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now. Thank you so much for being here. Founding member information can be found here. Have questions about sponsorships? Just send Shaun an email at sfarrar86@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you.
news

Mount Desert Heads for a New Assessment

Carrie Jones

Jul 08, 2026

a house made out of money on a white background
Photo by Kostiantyn Li on Unsplash

The Bar Harbor Story is generously sponsored by First National Bank.

MOUNT DESERT—All taxable real estate owners in the town of Mount Desert will have their property reassessed.

“It’s been almost twenty years since we’ve done that,” Assessor Kyle Avila told Mount Desert Selectboard members, July 6.

When a town reassesses a property, it determines the “assessed value” of a property, which isn’t quite the same as a “market value,” which is the likely price someone will pay for your property if it’s for sale.

A property’s assessment impacts its tax bill. It basically determines your property tax liability.

For the sort of assessment that Mount Desert is about to undergo, it means that people will come to homes, take photos, and take exterior measurements. They will also ask property owners questions.

“There’s two real classes of property that are sort of falling through the cracks that we need to capture. It’s the really uh less valuable homes that aren’t maintained that I don’t know about. You know, they’re not only permits or anything and those homes are becoming depreciated. And so we need to capture that and recognize that those valuations may be high um and adjust them accordingly,” Avila explained.

State law requires towns to keep the assessment ratio of properties above 70% and below 110%, he explained to the board.

If a town isn’t in that ratio, it impacts state subsidies. Those subsidies help support portions of school budgets. Property taxes are based on assessments and the town’s budget and mill rates.

It wasn’t just the homes that have lower monetary value that were “falling through the cracks,” Avila explained.

“The other end of that spectrum are the really nice properties where they’ve been doing renovations, maintenance that doesn’t require permits and so I’m not aware of those either. So there are houses that have been almost completely renovated, but I haven’t been able to go and reassess them because they’re sort of flying under radar. So those are the real uh big reasons to do the reval,” Avila said.

Avila came to town in 2007 right around the time of the last full assessment of this sort. Since then, he’s done proactive statistical assessments, but not a full measure and list revaluation.

“It’s been almost twenty years since we’ve done that,” Avila said. “So, it’s a big project and this is something that is uh typically done every 10 to 15 years.”

David MacDonald praised Avila’s attention and work that’s prevented having to do this sort of project.

It will cost the town $227,800 in a contract with Vision Government Solutions Inc. (VGSI), but the money is already in the budget.

“One of the things I think everyone who’s been around for a while should pat themselves on the back for is that we added this into the CIP plan a bunch of years ago gradually building up the money for the day that this would arrive, and then, thanks to Kyle’s work and to them, this is coming in on budget. So there’s no additional taxes that needs to get raised for us to be able to do this. So this isn’t going to have any impact on there because we’ve already raised money for it. And so hats off past versions of yourselves came in at the end of this, but it’s really nice,” said Town Manager Alex Kimball.

The town received just one bid after it sent a formal request for proposals (RFP) on May 11, 2026.

“One bid was received by the deadline on June 30, 2026,” Avila explained in the memo.

The work will being in spring, 2027 with data collection and market sales analysis.

The field data, where contracted employees go out to properties will then occur.

“Updated valuations will then be presented to the assessor for review in early 2028. Once accepted by the assessor, notification letters will be sent to property owners in the Spring of 2028,” Avila said.

People can dispute the findings if they choose to.

“Informal hearings and final adjustments will be completed prior to July 1, 2028,” Avila explained.

Martha Dudman said a public forum before the visit starts would be helpful so that people who want to can come and ask questions.

“You can’t publicize this enough. You have to, the more you talk about this the better it goes. It’s sort of this universal straight line,” Kimball said. “The towns that put in more time had an easier time. The towns that tried to talk about it less always had ways of people getting upset.”

Other towns, such as Bar Harbor and Southwest Harbor, have had residents worry over assessments.

“It does happen all the time with communities where the results come back and everyone’s got sticker shock because things have changed drastically,” Kimball said. “More often than not, those are communities that have changed assessors three times in the interim, went six months without one, tried to go to some private company, then changed mind again, and they fell behind on it. That hasn’t occurred here.”

According to Wallet Hub, Maine has the fifth highest property tax burden in the country.

AUDIT

The town will continue its auditing with James Wadman, out of Ellsworth. There are new timelines for the coming year.

APPOINTMENTS

The board appointed Durlin Lunt to the Housing Authority to serve from July 6, 2026 – March, 2031.

The board appointed Jesse Hartson to fill one of the vacant seats on the MDIHS Board of Trustees until the May 3, 2027 Town Meeting.

LIQUOR LICENSE RENEWALS

The board renewed the liquor license of Michael Boland/Choco-Latte, Inc. doing business as Copita at 102 Main St., Northeast Harbor.

It also renewed the liquor license of Katherine M. Conley doing business as Lighthouse Inn and Restaurant at 12 Main Street, Seal Harbor.

It also renewed the liquor license of 14 Sea Street doing business as The Docksider at 14 Sea Street, Northeast Harbor.

SECURITY CAMERA, ROAD STRIPING AND STORMWATER BASIN

The board approved paying Omega Security Group $5,915 for the addition of a security camera system at the Seal Harbor Pier.

It also reviewed and approved a contract with On The Line, Inc. for annual road striping in an amount not to exceed $15,000.

It tabled a contract with Clarke Construction for the installation of a stormwater catch basin for $336,930.

LINKS TO LEARN MORE

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/5bqHI4cCKuU?rel=0&autoplay=0&showinfo=0&enablejsapi=0

Meeting agenda

HELP SUPPORT THE BAR HARBOR STORY

When we started The Bar Harbor Story, we didn’t know if anyone would read it. But you showed up. You shared. You sent tips. Now—over 400,000 views every month later—it’s clear: people here care about their community and each other.

We’ve kept everything free because news should never be out of reach, but every one of our stories takes time to write, and your support keeps The Bar Harbor Story going.

If you value our work, please consider a paid subscription, a founding membership, or a sponsorship.

It truly helps us cover one more meeting, tell one more story, shine one more light.

Even $5 a month makes a difference. Click here to become a one-time supporter now.

Thank you so much for being here.

Founding member information can be found here.

Have questions about sponsorships? Just send Shaun an email at sfarrar86@gmail.com, he’d love to hear from you.

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