BIDDEFORD — Rising property values and a spate of new development have led to a lower property tax rate this year, but that doesn’t mean residents will see a reduction property tax bills, according to a city press release.

“Residents are being advised escalating property values might still lead to increased tax bills,” according to a press release from City Manager James Bennett.

Last year’s tax rate was $20.07 per $1,000 of taxable property value. This year, there is a 37 cent reduction. The tax rate for fiscal year 2019, which began July 1, is $19.70 per $1,000. The reduction follows a rise in overall real estate values of over $100 million, a 5 percent increase.

“The growing interest in downtown redevelopment and investment has driven up the value of commercial real estate,” Assessor Nicholas Desjardins said. “That new development increased the value of the city’s residential properties.”

To offset these higher residential property values, the City Council reduced the tax rate. Some homeowners, however, may still see their bill go up. Without the decrease, Bennett said, a large number of homeowners would have seen a significant rise in their tax about. However, when tax bills go out in August, about half of Biddeford homeowners will owe about the same amount they paid last year, one-quarter will see an increase and one-quarter will get a decrease, he said.

“While nobody wants to see higher tax rates, it’s a good thing when the trends behind that increase show that development in the city is on the rise,” said Mayor Alan Casavant. “As the ‘Biddesance’ continues and more people start to realize everything that this community has to offer, it’s naturally going to be more valuable to own property here.”

Bennett, meanwhile, said the city is doing what it can to support residents as local property values rise. “And remember,” he said, “over the long term this (increase in development) is very good news for city residents.”

The development trend is continuing. The city saw a record-breaking number of building permit applications for the second year in a row.

“We’re crazy busy with permits and everything else we have going on,” Roby Fecteau, the City’s Code Enforcement officer, said.

According to Bennett’s press release, “The city issued 597 building permits this year, breaking 2017’s record of 562 permits and surpassing the 482 permits issued in 2016 by nearly 24 percent. To keep up with the rapid rate of new development, the city now approves two to three new permit applications every day.”

The trend in increased development is taking place throughout the city, Bennett said, and includes both residential and commercial growth, from the Jiffy Lube/Taco Bell business on the outskirts of town, to redeveloped residents in the mill district and downtown.

Bennett said he’s hopeful continued development will continue the city’s streak of stabilizing residents’ tax bills.

“Since I’ve been here (tax bills) have been pretty stable,” he said. “Residents last year are paying less than they paid five years ago in real value.”

However, he cautioned, changes in finances at the state level can affect municipal tax rates, and city officials have little control over what happens with the state.

— Associate Editor Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324, or dmendros@journaltribune.com.