Republican, Democrat, or independent, we're Mainers first
Each of us a thread.In the fabric of society.
Mainers First identifies common-ground issues, educates the public about them, and supports moderates in both parties.
The map: Maine's 897,677 active voters, by town. DemocratsRepublicansUnenrolled and other parties Source: Maine Secretary of State, Statewide Registered and Enrolled Data File, active voters, as of March 7, 2026.
Your Bill
Your Maine bill is up $21,754 a year since 2021.
That's someone in Portland earning $100,000 and buying the typical home today: taxes on pay, the mortgage and the property tax, water and sewer, power and heat, every line beside what it was in 2021. Make it yours.
And the Main Street shop down the street? Its year costs $40,098 more, too.
See both receipts, with every source
Estimates for 2026 from published rates and prices: wages alone, standard deductions, no credits except the one-time payment. Every number is sourced on the full bill.
YOUR MAINE BILL
2026 · Portland · owning
FROM YOUR PAYCHECK
Maine income tax$5,129
top rate on your next dollar: 7.15%
Paid-leave premium$500
new since 2025
Federal income tax$13,170
top rate on your next dollar: 22%
Social Security, Medicare$7,650
WHERE YOU LIVE
Mortgage, typical home$34,484
was $17,424 in 2021 · ▲ 98%
bought today: $558,568 at 6.67%
Property tax$6,813
was $4,417 in 2021 · ▲ 54%
the median home
WATER AND SEWER
Water$385
was $301 in 2021 · ▲ 28%
Sewer$1,134
was $991 in 2021 · ▲ 14%
Stormwater fee$186
was $168 in 2021 · ▲ 11%
POWER AND HEAT
Electricity$1,844
was $1,085 in 2021 · ▲ 70%
Central Maine Power, 550 kWh a month
Stranded-cost charge$110
was $4 in 2021 · ▲ +$105
carries net energy billing
Heating oil, a winter$1,658
was $971 in 2020-21 · ▲ 71%
if you heat with oil
State gas tax$249
was $249 in 2021 · no change
30¢ a gallon since 2011
AT THE REGISTER
Sales and excise taxes$2,668
about 2.7% of income
Augusta spends per Mainer$4,241
was $2,868 in 2020-21 · ▲ 48%
To Augusta$8,655
To your town$8,519
To Washington$20,820
Home, power, heat$37,986
TOTAL$75,980
Up since 2021+$21,754
on the lines we can compare
THANK YOU FOR LIVING IN MAINE
Our issues
Five places to start.
- The sanctity of the voteElection integrityA free voter ID for any citizen who needs one, together with mail-in voting, drop boxes, and access for every eligible citizen.
- Teachers, and how to thinkEducationRecruit and keep great teachers, and teach ethics and philosophy beside the rest of the school day.
- Every public dollarFiscal responsibilityTaxes and spending from the state's own documents, and a bill you can figure for your own household.
- Treatment, housing, accountabilityOpioid crisisTreatment and recovery housing for people caught in addiction, and accountability for the people who sell the drugs.
- Landlords and tenantsHousingLandlords and tenants working the shortage together, including the neighbor who rents out a small building.
What we believe
Common sense. Civility. Moderation.
“But every difference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have called by different names brethren of the same principle.”
We argue about policies, never about people. Each of us is a thread in the same cloth.
The library
Read it for yourself.
White papers with every claim footnoted. Read them here or download them to print and share.
- White paperThe Landlord Next Door: Maine's Small Landlords, What They Face, and How to Keep Them RentingWho Maine's landlords really are, what a small building costs now, the rules that squeeze small owners, and a tax credit to keep neighbors renting.
- White paperProperty Taxes in Maine: Why They're Rising, Town by Town, and How to Keep Them in CheckWhat Maine's towns raised from 2019 to 2024 and why, the state limit Maine repealed in 2024, and how to keep Mainers from being taxed out of their homes on gains they haven't cashed.
- White paperLet Maine Build: A Housing Plan With the NumbersEight changes to get Maine building, each with what it costs and what it would produce: homes by right, a housing TIF, larger tax credits, a landlord guarantee, a fast hearing track, and more.
- White paperRent Control in Maine: What It Does, What It Costs, and What Brings Rents DownPortland's ordinance, what careful studies found in other cities, how the cap collides with rising property taxes, and what brings rents down: more homes and costs owners can plan for.
- White paperWhat Maine Pays: Income Tax, the Payroll Tax, and the General FundThe 2026 income tax brackets, the paid-leave payroll tax, and Augusta's budget since 2018, each from the state's own documents.
Each of us a thread.
Common ground · Common sense · Community.
Town meeting night
Same side of the room.
Republican, Democrat, or independent, we're Mainers first.
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Tell the Legislature or your council what it costs you. We'll help you get in the room.
I will testify.
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