The Kittery Town Council voted unanimously to adopt next year’s $22.8 million municipal budget at a town hall meeting Wednesday night.

The finalized budget reflects a $1.7 million, or 8.3%, increase from over the current budget.

Between municipal and school operations, the tax impact is likely to be an 8.5% increase. The mill rate, which will be officially set in September, is expected to jump from $9.29 to $9.92 per $1,000 of assessed property value, according to the town’s budget book.

That means the owner of a home sold at the median price — $685,000 as of April, according to Redfin— would pay about $6,795 in property taxes annually.

During Wednesday’s public hearing, which was attended by only a few people, one resident raised concerns about the budget’s tax burden on homeowners. 

Last year, the town conducted a property revaluation assessment after the state calculated Kittery’s property values were at 67% of their actual market rate. (The state requires reassessments if that valuation falls below 70%.) That project resulted in a significant increase in assessed residential property values. 

Council members emphasized at the meeting that when building the budget, they attempted to minimize the impact as much as possible. But a combination of the revaluation and inflation pressure on wages, benefits and other town obligations made it difficult.

Roughly 63.5% of the total budget will go toward wages and benefits for active and retired employees, making it one of the biggest cost drivers. 

“Running a municipality is like running a business,” Town Council Chair Judy Spiller said at the meeting. “We want to have really good-quality employees, and we need to pay them fairly.”

The budget also includes a $762,393 increase for public safety, with nearly 28% reserved for the fire department. Most of that 28% will cover the addition of a part-time administrative assistant.

Kittery will use $1.7 million for its Capital Improvement Plan, which includes improvements for the Kittery Community Center.

The town’s debt service budget will increase by almost $193,000. The jump is driven by two bonds totaling $15 million for Memorial Field renovations and a community center campus plan. Those were approved by voters in 2024 and are expected to be issued over the next two fiscal years.

A few existing bonds will be fully paid off in the upcoming fiscal year, including road improvements and a community center annex.

Officials said at the meeting that determining this year’s budget was complicated by the addition of new pressures.

“During and after COVID, we were concerned about the increases in spending on residents so we tried to minimize a lot of spending during that period,” Spiller said. “It finally has begun to catch up with us.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated on May 29 to correct the Town Council chair’s name. She is Judy Spiller.