This site is in beta and not (really) for public release. The data is real but the design and copy is subject to significant change.
DurhaminData
A town of 4,262 people keeps its records in 740 PDFs, 628.9 hours of meeting video and five datasets from four state and federal agencies. This is all of it, put in order, with every figure carrying the source it came from and the margin it was measured to.
00At a glance
Nine things residents ask, answered from the record.
Every figure below is read from a document in this site's corpus: the town's own audited statements, budget and commitment books, or a state or federal dataset. Each card names its source, and “View data” shows the table behind the chart. Nothing is estimated or adjusted; where a year is missing, the gap is left open.
Money out
Where your tax dollar goes
73.1%of the FY2024 tax assessment went to RSU 5 schools15.90 of the 21.75 mil rate
Most of a Durham tax bill funds the school district. The county's share is small and rising; the town's own share has been shrinking. FY2026 covered eighteen months in one bill but the county billed only twelve, so the town's sheet calls that row's shares skewed; the FY2027 town figure on the sheet was not yet final.
Schools (RSU 5)CountyTown
View data
Fiscal year
Schools
County
Town
Total assessment
Schools %
County %
Town %
FY2021
$5,349,456
$558,960
$1,606,301
$7,514,717
71.2%
7.4%
21.4%
FY2022
$5,537,963
$600,886
$1,591,367
$7,730,216
71.6%
7.8%
20.6%
FY2023
$5,716,355
$677,388
$1,633,870
$8,027,613
71.2%
8.4%
20.4%
FY2024
$6,088,292
$742,140
$1,495,876
$8,326,308
73.1%
8.9%
18.0%
FY2026 (18 months)
$10,271,448
$816,323
$1,996,564
$13,084,335
78.5%
6.2%
15.3%
FY2027 (town figure projected)
$7,807,619
$918,788
$1,166,757
$9,893,164
78.9%
9.3%
11.8%
Headline figure: data/raw/documents/durham-tax-assessment-history.pdf, page 1; Durham Tax Assessment History; row “Education assessment”, column “2024”. Derived: Education assessment ÷ Total Durham Tax Assessment × 100 = $6,088,292 ÷ $8,326,308 × 100. Each chart mark names its own document (durham-tax-assessment-history.pdf, p. 1 and the others listed below) on hover or focus.
25.50per $1,000 of assessed value, 2027 commitment21.75 in 2024, the last 12-month book before it
The rate on the town's own assessed values, as the auditors record it each year and as the commitment books print it. Years with no audited statement in the corpus are left open. The FY2026 book billed eighteen months in one rate, so it is drawn off the scale of the twelve-month years rather than joined to them.
View data
Year
Mil rate per $1,000
Read from
2017
18.85
Audited levy note
2018
19.70
Audited levy note
2019
20.25
Audited levy note
2020
not in corpus
no audited statement on file
2021
not in corpus
no audited statement on file
2022
20.70
Audited levy note
2023
21.35
Audited levy note
2024
21.75
Commitment book
2025
not in corpus
no book labelled 2025: the 18-month FY2026 book followed 2024
2026 (18 months)
33.58
Commitment book
2027
25.50
Commitment book
Headline figure: data/raw/documents/2027-real-estate-commitment-book.pdf; commitment_summary.json → vintages[year].mil_rate (the rate printed on the book, verified against its Final Totals); row “Book labelled 2027, committed 2026-08-11”, column “mil rate (real estate)”. Each chart mark names its own document (2027-real-estate-commitment-book.pdf and the others listed below) on hover or focus.
76.1%of 2024 general fund revenue was property tax$8,320,551 of $10,930,601, audited
Property tax carries the general fund. Excise tax on vehicles is the second source, state revenue sharing and exemption reimbursements the third. The FY2027 budget also plans to draw on fund balance, which is savings rather than income and is not shown here.
Property taxExcise taxState aid and grantsFees, interest and other
View data
Source
2024 actual (audited)
Share
FY2027 budget
Share
Property tax
$8,320,551
76.1%
$9,918,984
77.4%
Excise tax
$1,144,570
10.5%
$1,286,300
10.0%
State aid and grants
$1,029,404
9.4%
$1,001,221
7.8%
Fees, interest and other
$436,076
4.0%
$616,620
4.8%
Total
$10,930,601
100%
$12,823,125
100%
Headline figure: data/raw/documents/durham-2024-fs.pdf, page 10; Statement 4: Statement of Revenues, Expenditures and Changes in Fund Balances, Governmental Funds, year ended 31 December 2024; row “Property taxes”, column “General Fund”. Derived: Property taxes ÷ Total revenues × 100 = $8,320,551 ÷ $10,930,601 × 100. Each chart mark names its own document (durham-2024-fs.pdf, p. 10 and the others listed below) on hover or focus.
$4,520median real-estate tax bill, 2027 commitment$5,842 on the 2026 (18 months) book, -22.6%
The middle bill among every real-estate account that owed tax, from the town's own commitment book. The 2026 book covered eighteen months in one bill, so the drop to 2027 is mostly the return to a twelve-month year, not a cut.
View data
Book
Committed
Mil rate
Median real-estate bill
Accounts with a bill
2024
2024-06-26
21.75
$3,720.34
2,057
2026 (18 months)
2025-08-13
33.58
$5,842.08
2,062
2027
2026-08-11
25.50
$4,519.88
2,063
Headline figure: data/raw/documents/2027-real-estate-commitment-book.pdf; commitment_2027.csv, the parsed book (verified against its Final Totals); row “median of the 2,063 real-estate accounts with a bill”, column “tax”. Derived: middle value of the tax column over real-estate accounts where tax > 0. Each chart mark names its own document (2027-real-estate-commitment-book.pdf and the others listed below) on hover or focus.
651Durham pupils counted for FY2027 funding+76 since FY2014
The pupil count the state's funding formula credits to Durham each fiscal year. It is the only enrollment series in the corpus; the ACS pull holds no count of school-age households, so none is shown.
View data
Fiscal year
Durham pupils
Local contribution per pupil
State EPS allocation per pupil
FY2014
575.5
$4,801
$11,025
FY2015
588.5
$4,834
$12,493
FY2016
566
$5,091
$13,110
FY2017
585
$4,969
$13,277
FY2018
589
$4,911
$13,084
FY2019
594
$5,211
$13,262
FY2020
599.5
$5,193
$13,172
FY2021
619
$5,205
$13,229
FY2022
622
$4,896
$12,987
FY2023
626
$5,014
$12,997
FY2024
640
$5,116
$13,730
FY2025
648
$5,301
$13,937
FY2026
640
$5,711
$14,257
FY2027
651
$6,008
$13,745
Headline figure: data/raw/doe/ed279/ed279_RSU_05_FY2027.pdf; ED279 Section 4, municipal split (parsed to data/processed/ed279_by_town.csv); row “Durham”, column “pupils”. Each chart mark names its own document (ed279_RSU_05_FY2027.pdf and the others listed below) on hover or focus.
$99,181median household income, ACS 2020–2024±$4,747 at 90% confidence; median Maine town $65,568
A survey estimate, so each town carries its margin of error. Durham sits above every neighbour except Freeport and Pownal, whose margins overlap its own. No county or state row is in the corpus, so the comparison is to the median Maine town.
DurhamNeighbouring townsMedian Maine town
View data
Town
Median household income
Margin (90%)
Freeport
$107,326
±$19,268
Pownal
$104,333
±$13,845
Durham
$99,181
±$4,747
Bowdoin
$91,239
±$13,333
Lisbon
$77,819
±$8,723
Brunswick
$74,952
±$6,048
Auburn
$66,647
±$4,610
Lewiston
$55,393
±$4,316
Median Maine town
$65,568
n/a
Headline figure: data/raw/census/acs5_maine_subdivisions.json; ACS 5-year 2024 (B19013_001E, parsed to data/processed/census_durham.csv); row “Durham”, column “estimate (moe beside it)”. Each chart mark names its own document (acs5_maine_subdivisions.json and the others listed below) on hover or focus.
9.73full-value tax rate per $1,000 of state valuation, 2024Maine average 10.37; the lowest of the 8 towns compared
Three measures that can be compared across town lines: the state's full-value rate (a mil rate cannot be), the required local school contribution per pupil among the three RSU 5 towns, and the ACS median home value with its margin.
DurhamNeighboursMaine average
View data
Town
Full-value rate 2024
Local school contribution per pupil FY2027
Median home value 2024 (±margin)
Durham
9.73
$6,008
$322,200 (±$33,769)
Bowdoin
9.86
not in RSU 5
$292,800 (±$71,031)
Pownal
10.72
$10,984
$436,800 (±$31,758)
Freeport
10.81
$12,554
$508,400 (±$75,899)
Lisbon
12.29
not in RSU 5
$258,300 (±$26,077)
Brunswick
13.15
not in RSU 5
$376,300 (±$15,350)
Lewiston
14.26
not in RSU 5
$235,100 (±$7,810)
Auburn
15.93
not in RSU 5
$282,000 (±$11,806)
Maine average
10.37
n/a
n/a
Headline figure: data/raw/mrs/full_value_tax_rates_2013_2024.xls; Full Value Tax Rates History (parsed to data/processed/mrs_tax_rates.csv); row “DURHAM”, column “2024”. Each chart mark names its own document (full_value_tax_rates_2013_2024.xls and the others listed below) on hover or focus.
$3,070,377long-term debt at the end of 2024, auditedpaid off on schedule by 2029; $544,175 of it is the 2009 school note RSU 5 reimburses
Notes for road paving, a fire truck and the public works property, as the auditors carried them at each year end, then the balance left after each year's scheduled principal. No audited 2020 or 2021 statement is in the corpus. Durham's share of RSU 5's own debt is separate and not shown.
Audited balanceAfter scheduled principal
View data
Year end
Debt outstanding
Basis
2018
$5,986,527
audited statement
2019
$7,642,065
audited statement
2022
$4,827,974
audited statement
2023
$3,871,079
audited statement
2024
$3,070,377
audited statement
2025
$2,391,940
after $678,437 principal and $93,857 interest scheduled
2026
$1,708,199
after $683,741 principal and $74,308 interest scheduled
2027
$1,054,631
after $653,568 principal and $55,393 interest scheduled
2028
$395,293
after $659,338 principal and $35,193 interest scheduled
2029
$0
after $395,293 principal and $13,557 interest scheduled
Headline figure: data/raw/documents/durham-2024-fs.pdf, page 19; Changes in long-term liabilities, year ended 31 December 2024; row “Notes from direct borrowings”, column “Ending balance”. Each chart mark names its own document (durham-2024-fs.pdf, p. 19 and the others listed below) on hover or focus.
30.2%of 2024 general fund spending held as unassigned fund balance$3,238,949 at the end of 2024
The general fund's unassigned balance at each year end, as audited. The shaded band is the 15 to 25 percent range the Select Board described as the target in April 2025, stated in dollars against roughly $11 million of spending. The audits note the town has no formal fund balance policy.
Unassigned fund balanceGuideline range
View data
Year end
Unassigned fund balance
General fund expenditures
Balance as % of spending
Note
2017
$1,179,500
$7,907,446
14.9%
2018
$1,194,979
$10,017,505
11.9%
spending includes $1,602,752 of bond-funded capital outlay
2019
$1,285,202
$11,658,696
11.0%
spending includes $229,905 of bond-funded capital outlay
2020
$1,292,080
n/a
n/a
no expenditure total in corpus
2021
$1,557,698
$9,531,335
16.3%
2022
$924,800
$9,775,231
9.5%
2023
$3,015,468
$10,181,724
29.6%
2024
$3,238,949
$10,733,054
30.2%
Headline figure: data/raw/documents/durham-2024-fs.pdf, page 9; Balance Sheet, Governmental Funds, 31 December 2024; row “Fund Balances: Unassigned”, column “General Fund”. Derived: Unassigned ÷ Total general fund expenditures × 100 = $3,238,949 ÷ $10,733,054 × 100. Each chart mark names its own document (durham-2024-fs.pdf, p. 9 and the others listed below) on hover or focus.
9 cards, 155 sourced figures. Dollar figures are nominal. FY2026 ran eighteen months while the town moved its financial year to July–June, and is shown as billed.
01People
The town got bigger, richer and no older.
Population is up 9.9% since 2014 and median household income up 48.9%. Median age did not measurably move at all, and at 42.6, Durham is younger than most Maine towns: between the 4th and 49th percentiles within its margin.
Percentile among Maine towns, 2024, with the range Durham's margin allows
Durhamrange within Durham's marginmedian Maine town
Table view
Measure
Durham
±
Median Maine town
Percentile
Range within Durham's margin
Towns not distinguishable from Durham
Towns reporting
median household income
$99,181
$4,747
$65,568
92nd
89th to 95th
133
496
median home value
$322,200
$33,769
$219,950
77th
70th to 84th
118
498
adults 25+ with a bachelor's degree or higher
34.8%
6.4 points
26.1%
70th
54th to 81st
241
518
median age
42.6 years
5.9 years
48.8 years
22nd
4th to 49th
324
515
Source & method
U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates, 2013-2024 Durham is a county subdivision (23-001-19105), not a place. Every estimate carries its published 90% margin of error; differences are called real only when they exceed the combined margin, and only between non-overlapping 5-year windows https://api.census.gov/data/2024/acs/acs5 Data as of 2024 (the newest ACS 5-year vintage (2020-2024)); retrieved 7 September 2026.
Percentile among the 496–518 Maine towns reporting each measure, 2024.
02Schools
A third of the students. A fifth of the bill.
Durham, Freeport and Pownal fund RSU 5 together. Durham sends 32.8% of the pupils and raises 19.2% of the required local money. The formula charges each town on property valuation rather than student count, so the town with less taxable property behind each child pays less locally and receives more from the state.
Durham's two shares of RSU 5, FY2014 to FY2027, the gap shaded
Shares of the district's Section 4C totals before adjustments. The gap has ranged from 11.8 to 14.4 points.
Table view
Fiscal year
Share of pupils %
Share of local contribution %
Gap (points)
State share of Durham's allocation %
FY2014
29.7%
17.9%
11.8
56.5%
FY2015
30.3%
18.2%
12.1
61.3%
FY2016
30.3%
18.3%
12.0
61.2%
FY2017
31.5%
18.4%
13.1
62.6%
FY2018
31.7%
18.0%
13.7
62.5%
FY2019
31.0%
17.7%
13.3
60.7%
FY2020
30.7%
17.6%
13.1
60.6%
FY2021
31.1%
17.4%
13.7
60.7%
FY2022
31.8%
17.4%
14.4
62.3%
FY2023
32.1%
17.7%
14.4
61.4%
FY2024
31.6%
17.2%
14.4
62.7%
FY2025
31.3%
17.5%
13.8
62.0%
FY2026
31.5%
18.3%
13.2
59.9%
FY2027
32.8%
19.2%
13.6
56.3%
Taxable property behind each pupil, FY2027Table view
Town
Valuation per pupil
Paid by the state %
Durham
$1.06M
56.3%
Pownal
$1.95M
20.1%
Freeport
$2.22M
8.7%
Source & method
Maine DOE ED279 Essential Programs and Services allocation reports, FY2014-FY2027 Section 4 read positionally, never label-then-next-number (one label in Section 5A heads three columns). A fiscal year is published only when six internal identities balance to the cent, including that the municipal allocations and pupil counts sum to the district totals https://www.maine.gov/doe/funding/gpa/currentfy Data as of FY2027 (the newest fiscal year whose ED279 report balances); retrieved 2 August 2026.
Maine DOE ED279, FY2027. Freeport received no state contribution at all in three of the 14 years on record.
03Housing
Almost everyone owns. Renting is barely measurable.
95.4% of occupied homes in Durham are owner-occupied, the 87th percentile of Maine towns (74th to 95th within its margin). There are so few rental households that the Census Bureau published no median rent for Durham in 2023, 2024; the last figure it could produce was $1,051 in 2022.
87th of 516 towns (74th to 95th within the margin)
Median home value is up 56.5% since 2014, in nominal dollars.
04Taxes
Back below the state average.
Durham's full-value tax rate was 9.73 in 2024 against a Maine average of 10.37, a gap of −0.64. This is the only rate that compares honestly between towns: a mil rate applies to each town's own assessed values, so two towns with the same mil rate can carry very different real burdens.
Full-value tax rate, Durham against the Maine average, 2000 to 2024, the gap shaded by sign
DurhamMaine average
Red shading where Durham's rate is above the Maine average, blue where below: below in 15 of 25 years, above in 10. Rate per $1,000 of state valuation; the town's own 2027 mil rate (25.5) applies to local assessed values and is not comparable.
Table view
Year
Durham
Maine average
Gap (Durham minus Maine)
2024
9.73
10.37
−0.64
2023
10.72
10.60
+0.12
2022
11.39
11.21
+0.18
2021
13.19
12.66
+0.53
2020
15.18
14.10
+1.08
2019
16.05
14.59
+1.46
2018
16.01
14.80
+1.21
2017
16.28
14.96
+1.32
2016
16.49
15.06
+1.43
2015
16.08
15.03
+1.05
2014
15.65
14.72
+0.93
2013
14.23
14.49
−0.26
2012
12.82
13.99
−1.17
2011
12.38
13.40
−1.02
2010
12.25
12.78
−0.53
2009
11.58
12.23
−0.65
2008
10.33
11.70
−1.37
2007
9.59
11.33
−1.74
2006
9.77
11.23
−1.46
2005
10.59
11.77
−1.18
2004
12.03
12.96
−0.93
2003
12.35
13.90
−1.55
2002
13.33
14.97
−1.64
2001
14.31
15.56
−1.25
2000
14.66
15.97
−1.31
Source & method
Maine Revenue Services, State Valuation History and Full Value Tax Rates State valuation normalised to dollars (the source states 2025-2026 in dollars and earlier years in thousands); full-value rates read from the workbook's own year header, which carries 2000-2024 despite the download being labelled 2013-2024 https://www.maine.gov/revenue/taxes/property-tax/municipal-services Data as of 2024 (the newest full-value rate year; state valuation runs to 2026); retrieved 31 July 2026.
Full-value rate per $1,000 of state valuation, 2024. The town's own mil rate for 2027 was 25.5, and the median real-estate tax bill across 2,063 real-estate accounts with a bill was $4,520.
05Voting
No party holds a plurality. Unenrolled voters do.
As of March 7, 2026, unenrolled voters are the largest single group in Durham at 33.9% of the 3,164 registered, as they have been at 29 of 31 reporting dates in this record. On statewide ballot questions the town splits just as evenly: 27 approved, 30 rejected.
Durham against Maine by party, March 7, 2026
DurhamMaineAndroscoggin County
Active registrations as of March 7, 2026. Colours here mean place, not party. A one-point difference in Durham is about 32 voters.
Table view
Party
Durham voters
Durham %
Maine %
Androscoggin County %
Difference (points, Durham minus Maine)
As of
Unenrolled
1,072
33.9%
31.4%
31.8%
+2.4
March 7, 2026
Republican
1,015
32.1%
30.5%
32.2%
+1.6
March 7, 2026
Democrat
901
28.5%
34.0%
29.9%
-5.5
March 7, 2026
Green Independent
156
4.9%
3.4%
4.2%
+1.5
March 7, 2026
Other parties
20
0.6%
0.6%
1.9%
0.0
March 7, 2026
Source & method
Maine Secretary of State, Registered & Enrolled Voter files 58 files parsed by column header (six different party schemas); dates taken from the SoS page's own 'As of' markers, not filenames https://www.maine.gov/sos/elections-voting/voter-data Data as of 7 March 2026 (the 'as of' date the Secretary of State prints beside the newest file); retrieved 31 July 2026.
Durham's legislative districts have been renumbered twice in this period; the town, not the district number, is what the record follows.
06The record
Every number here can be traced back to a file.
740 documents, 6,403 pages and 1.89 million words, of which 93 were scans that had to be read by OCR. Figures that could not be verified against their own source were left out rather than published with a caveat.
When the town was filming: recorded meetings by month, 2015 to 2026
1 recording2 recordings3 or morefilmed, unreadableno recordings for more than 120 days
Recordings on the town's YouTube channel that produced a transcript, not meetings held; a blank month is a gap in filming, not an empty calendar, and the minutes remain the record. 1 recording has no date and is excluded. 2026 is partial.
Table view
Year
Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Total
Hours of video
Filmed but unreadable
2015
0
5
4
3
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
12
18.9
0
2016
2
5
3
2
4
3
3
2
3
3
5
3
38
52.3
2
2017
5
3
3
4
4
4
2
2
2
3
2
1
35
61.4
2
2018
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0.0
0
2019
4
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
4
3.5
0
2020
0
0
0
2
4
2
0
1
2
5
5
5
26
35.3
0
2021
5
5
4
1
2
0
0
0
0
0
0
0
17
23.1
0
2022
0
0
2
4
3
3
5
5
3
4
4
8
41
71.8
0
2023
5
6
5
3
3
4
4
4
3
5
7
4
53
105.2
0
2024
7
6
5
4
5
4
3
3
3
3
4
3
50
107.6
1
2025
5
6
4
4
3
3
3
3
3
4
3
3
44
87.7
0
2026 (to date)
3
3
4
4
4
4
3
3
0
0
0
0
28
58.7
0
Source & method
Town of Durham meeting recordings, YouTube auto-captions, and the town's written minutes Captions cleaned into timestamped transcripts; topics and motions found by pattern matching; summaries written by a language model and required to cite the second each item begins. Every name attached to speech is checked against the attendance list in the minutes, and marked (?) where no record confirms it https://www.youtube.com/@durhammaine/videos Data as of 25 August 2026 (the date of the newest recorded meeting in the index); retrieved 2 September 2026.
11 datasets from 5 publishing bodies, plus 349 meetings, 626.3 hours of video transcribed and summarised, with every claim carrying the second it was said.
