Bass Harbor, ME Property Tax: There Is No Bass Harbor Rate
The single most important thing to understand about property tax here is structural, not numerical: Bass Harbor has no mil rate of its own. It is one of five villages of the Town of Tremont, and every property in Bass Harbor is taxed under Tremont's single, townwide rate -- the exact same rate that applies in Bernard, Seal Cove, West Tremont, and on Gott's Island. This page walks through what is actually known about that shared rate, what genuinely could not be confirmed, and why.
Why There's No "Bass Harbor Rate" -- and Never Has Been
Bass Harbor is not, and has never been, an incorporated municipality. It is a village within the Town of Tremont, incorporated June 3, 1848 -- Tremont sets one budget, one mil rate, and one tax commitment book covering all five of its villages. There is no separate Bass Harbor town office, assessor, or budget process. Any source or agent who describes a "Bass Harbor tax rate" as distinct from Tremont's is describing something that does not exist; the correct question to ask is always about Tremont's current townwide rate.
The Most Current Figure Found: Tremont's FY2027 Budget
Per Bar Harbor Story's coverage of Tremont's May 12, 2026 annual town meeting, the town's total FY2027 tax assessment (commitment) is $8,400,198, broken into three components: an education budget of $6,462,505 (77% of the total -- the school budget dominates the tax bill here), a municipal budget of $1,519,525 (flat, 0% increase from the prior year), a county tax of $391,168 (up 6.8%), plus a $27,000 assessor's overlay. The town's own school appropriation rose from $4,587,820 to $5,034,430, and the regional high school (Mount Desert Island High School) assessment rose $78,227 (5.8%) to $1,428,075. For illustration, the article states that on a $400,000-assessed home, the year-over-year tax increase was approximately $260, of which $248.04 traced to the school-budget increase and $11.70 to the county-budget increase -- implying the flat municipal budget contributed essentially nothing to that particular year's increase. All budget articles passed with only light opposition (56-5 on the written ballot).
Three Non-Contemporaneous Historical Rate Figures -- None Confirmed Current
This session found three different figures describing Tremont's per-$1,000 tax rate at three different points in time, and could not reconcile them into one confirmed current number. Box of Maine's own property-tax-rate table cites Tremont's rate at $9.22 per $1,000 of assessed value as of 2017, up 19.12% from $7.74 in 2010. Separately, Maine Revenue Services' own statewide "full value tax rate" comparison document lists Tremont's full-value rate at 8.67 (per $1,000) for 2022 -- note this full-value rate is a state-equalized figure used for state-aid calculations, not necessarily identical to the town's own locally committed mil rate, so it should not be treated as directly interchangeable with the 2017 figure. Neither figure has been updated or reconfirmed against a current, live source this session, and neither should be quoted as the current rate.
What a Buyer Should Actually Do
Contact the Town of Tremont's Assessor's Office directly (207-244-7204; the office sits on Route 102 in the Bass Harbor/Bernard area, ZIP 04612 for the town office itself) for the current committed mil rate and for a specific parcel's assessed value -- the only combination that produces a real bill. Property in Maine is assessed as it exists on April 1 of each year, and Tremont's own tax-information page lists standard exemption programs (Veterans, Homestead, Blind, Tree Growth, Open Space) worth asking about if applicable. Given that the school budget makes up more than three-quarters of the current tax assessment, a buyer should also ask about enrollment trends in the shared school district and any planned capital projects, since those are the single biggest driver of future bill changes here, not municipal spending.
Ready to talk to a local Bass Harbor agent?
Get a Free Agent Referral →Independent research. No ads. No sponsored listings. FY2027 budget figures are from Bar Harbor Story's reporting on Tremont's May 12, 2026 annual town meeting ("In Tremont, School and County Budgets Increase While Municipal Budget Stays Flat"). Historical rate figures are from Box of Maine's Maine property-tax-rate table (2017/2010 data) and Maine Revenue Services' own statewide full-value-tax-rate comparison document (2022 data). Neither historical figure has been confirmed as Tremont's current committed rate. Nothing on this page is tax or legal advice; confirm the current mil rate and a specific parcel's assessed value directly with the Town of Tremont's Assessor's Office, and consult a Maine-licensed tax professional before making a purchase decision based on property tax exposure.