📰BIDDEFORD | Taxes are probably going to increase… | “Lessard’s 3 Reasons Taxes Are Going Up for Biddeford Residents”

“In all likelihood we are looking at another 5% to 6% [tax] increase”. - Marc Lessard, City Councilor At-Large

At-Large Councilor Marc Lessard (Biddeford)

January 9, 2026, City Councilor At-Large Marc Lessard was first elected to the Biddeford City Council in 1993 and has since been reelected for 11 terms. With his family having lived in Biddeford for 6 generations, it’s safe to say that he has deep roots in the community.

Throughout Councilor Lessard’s tenure on the City Council, he’s earned a reputation of being fiscally conservative with many in the local community going as far as referring to him as a “fiscal hawk”... so it certainly caught the attention of many individuals this past Tuesday at the first City Council meeting of 2026, when he warned his fellow councilors and Biddeford residents of what he believes will be incoming tax increases; “In all likelihood we are looking at another 5% to 6% [tax] increase”.

Well, after hearing Marc say this, we had questions… so we gave him a call.

“I didn't say this to scare the residents. I actually was saying it more for my fellow councilors, specifically the ones who recently joined the council and for them to consider as we discuss and vote on future budgets.”

Lessard went on to say, “It’s not that hard to get to 4% to 5% [tax increase]. 80% of the city’s budget is allocated for city employees and the vast majority (70%-80%) of the employees are members of unions.” 

“In my experience, union contracts are typically multi-year deals with an average of 3% to 5% increases each year for members”... and a quick google search will tell you that Lessard is 100% correct.

If 80% of the budget is allocated toward city employees, and the majority of them are members of unions whose salaries are negotiated to increase each year by approximately 3%-5%, well then from that alone, residents can expect a cost increase (usually in the form of a tax increase).

So now we’ve reached what we’ve so aptly titled, #1 of “Lessards’s 3 Reasons Taxes Are Going Up for Biddeford Residents”; Budget Composition & Union Contracts.

On to #2; Recently approved bonds. This one is simple. This past election, Biddeford residents approved 2 municipal bonds, Recreation and Sewer, and as Marc puts it, “these will come home to roost”... AKA the bonds came with a future cost and it will soon be time to pay up.

And finally, #3 of “Lessards’s 3 Reasons Taxes Are Going Up for Biddeford Residents”; Natural and or Unexpected Increases. Things become more expensive and inflation exists… spoiler alert, the City of Biddeford is not exempt from that “fun little circle of life’.

AND YES.. this comes on the back of what’s been an average of 5.5% yearly tax increase over the past 4 years for Biddeford residents - that’s roughly a 24% increase over the past 4 years - that sounds grim... But what sounds even worse is when you compare the past 4 years average increase of 5.5% to years prior where it was typically closer to only a 2% increase, OUCH.

Well, there you have it folks, At-Large Councilor Marc “Lessard’s 3 Reasons Taxes Are Going Up for Biddeford Residents”...

Do you think he is right?