EASTON, Maine — Easton residents will see a higher tax bill this summer because the town is changing its fiscal year.
Voters passed the 2025-2026 budget, which will cover 16 1/2 months, at Monday’s annual town meeting.
The change has been discussed at various public meetings and mailings also went out to residents, Town Manager Cheryl Clark said Tuesday. The fiscal year, which was previously Feb. 16 to the following Feb. 15, will now run from July 1 through June 30. As a result, this year’s budget and property taxes will cover the additional four months leading up to July 1, and the entire next year.
With the change comes a one-time break for taxpayers — the option to pay in two installments. Half of everyone’s tax bill will be due Oct. 1 and the second half on April 1, 2026, Clark said.
“For this one time only, our tax bill will be raising funds for both town and school for 16 1/2 months,” Clark said. “It’s a one-time tax bill for this length of time. The following year we’ll be back to a normal 12-month period.”
Town leaders decided to change the fiscal year for two major reasons, she said. First, Easton maintains its own school department, so aligning the municipal budget with the school budget will make reconciliation easier. And secondly, the change is expected to provide better cash flow.
Tax bills are typically sent out in late August. With a financial year ending in February, the town has had to operate on a tax anticipation note — in effect, borrow money — for several months until tax revenues start coming in.
“It puts us at a very low cash flow in the summer, so both the town and the school [department] have to really freeze everything up until we start getting income again,” Clark said. “That’s a long time to go without significant income.”
The new financial timeline means the town probably won’t have to borrow operating money, she said.
Thanks to meetings and information provided to townspeople, residents were well informed about the change and there were no questions at Monday’s meeting, Clark said.
Easton now follows the state of Maine’s fiscal year.
During elections on Monday before the annual meeting, voters reelected Doug Blackstone to a three-year term on the Select Board. Incumbent Andrew King and newcomer Nicole Guess won three-year seats on the Easton School Committee.
All town meeting articles passed with no opposition, Clark said.
Voters approved a 16-1/2-month town budget that included $306,515 for town administration; $142,315 for the Easton Fire Department; $669,884 for the highway department; $176,353 for the Easton Recreation Department; $50,274 for buildings and grounds; $16,440 for operation of the Odd Fellows Hall; $242,000 for Tri Community Landfill; $107,250 for ambulance service; $47,881 for insurance; and $80,158 in outside requests.
The highway department showed the greatest increase, up nearly 75 percent from last year’s appropriation of $388,041.
Residents voted to raise $300,000 for the town road improvement fund, and to spend $537,209.23 from that fund for summer road maintenance. Easton will also receive nearly $46,000 from the Maine Urban Rural Initiative Program for town road improvement.
Among other business, residents approved discontinuing 935 feet of a former entrance to Bowers Road, spending $6,922 from the equipment reserve fund for a security system and radio at the town office, and spending $3,822 from equipment reserves on firefighter gear.
