“We have a few McMansions, but most people here are middle-class retirees on fixed incomes,” said Dave Wagner, who owns the Frye’s Leap General Store and Café. “The taxes have become a significant burden for many of them.”
Frye Island on Sebago Lake is made up of about 1,000 acres and is accessed by a public car ferry from Raymond Neck.
A cottage on Leisure Lane has been in Bob Sutherland’s family for 50 years and he hopes to one day turn it over to his adult sons. “The taxes are a challenge and are becoming more so all the time,” said Sutherland, of Florida.
The car ferry that serves Frye Island on Sebago Lake runs seasonally.
Many of Frye Island’s roughly 500 cottages were built in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The island used to be part of Standish, even though it is geographically closer to Raymond.
Bob and Margaret Miner of Bolton, Connecticut, said they have seen some animus directed at out-of-state residents. “The truth is, we’re supporting the local economy,” Bob Miner said. “Everything we buy here is in a local store.”
In the 17 years since residents voted to secede from the town of Standish, property taxes on Frye Island, which is occupied seasonally, have gone up 200 percent, mostly to support the local school district.
Bev Vaillancourt and her husband, of Auburn, bought their cottage on Frye Island in 1992. They spend as much time as they can on the island.
No children from Frye Island attend district schools. The houses are occupied seasonally and services on the island are open only from May through October.
Local & State 
