SCARBOROUGH — The property tax rate for 2021 and 2022 has been set at a number lower than what the town of Scarborough had originally anticipated during the budget process earlier this summer.

The new property tax rate, as of Aug. 12, is $15.02 per $1,000 of property value, a 1.08 percent increase from last year, said Town Manager Tom Hall on Aug. 18.

Councilor Ken Johnson said this would mean a $56 tax increase for a home worth $350,000 in Scarborough.

October tax bills started going out to residents during the end of the week of Aug. 16, but many residents will receive their bills over the week of Aug. 23, Hall said.

“It’s slightly better than what was expected at the time of budget approval, in part because of the application of additional General Purpose Aid,” Hall said. “Half went to lowering the tax rate, and the other portion that produced a lower tax rate is the accessor was estimating a $90 million increase in value which ended up being $118 million increase in the end.”

The process was finished earlier this year than in the past, he said.

“We’re pleased that we concluded a very busy year, I think, in a very good position and actually did it earlier than we do normally,” Hall said.

Scarborough has not spent or allocated all of the American Rescue Plan Act funds that will be received, said Council Chair Paul Johnson.

“We spent about $300,000 in ARPA funds to essentially pay our frontline workers the money they deserve for hazard pay, and we haven’t spent any of the other approximately $2 million we’re going to get,” he said. “I wanted to thank the town staff and everybody here. It’s always a little frustrating because we are conservative and we are actually very deliberate in our budget process. Our first headline is never as attractive as a lot of the neighboring communities, but I hope people realize where we ended up and more importantly, what we have coming down the road in a year or two, that we were smart enough to keep that powder dry, so to speak.”

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