The Cost of Growth—Scarborough's Budget and Identity Are Both Paying the Price

The Cost of Growth—Scarborough's Budget and Identity Are Both Paying the Price

By Karin Shupe, Town Council

Long before Scarborough had its name, it had an identity. The Native Americans called it Owascoag, “land of much grass”. The extensive saltmarshes defined the landscape of Scarborough. The marsh wasn’t just scenery; it provided a way of life for its residents. The construction of the Maine Turnpike in 1948 was a turning point for Scarborough. The Turnpike brought more business, leading to population growth, new housing developments, and large retailers. Subdivisions began replacing farms, and commuters were replacing the fisherman.  

As early as 1994, Scarborough’s own Comprehensive Plan raised the alarm, questioning whether the town would be able to maintain its remaining rural character over the next ten to twenty years. The answer, two decades later, is evident as you drive through our town. 

Our Town budget serves as a mirror of our values and priorities. Since 2007 Scarborough has added roughly 5,700 residents, a 30% increase in population, while our budget has grown more than 100%. This is not due to mismanagement or waste but due to the growth we have allowed. Back when Scarborough was a farming and fishing town, life was simpler and so were the finances. But today, residential subdivisions sprawling from Oak Hill to the western side of the Turnpike require police and fire coverage across 50 square miles, miles of maintained roads, expanded schools, and an ever-growing administrative structure to hold it all together. Every new subdivision that replaces a farm field adds children to the schools, cars to the roads, and demand on every town service — but rarely generates enough in property taxes to cover what it consumes.

The school budget highlights this growth distinctly. In under twenty years the school’s net budget, the portion paid directly by local property taxpayers, has grown even faster, from $24.5 million to $60.2 million—a 145% increase. The proposed FY2027 school budget of $79.3 million would have been unimaginable to residents who voted on school budgets in the early 2000s.

Reinforcing all of this is an assessed valuation that has grown from $3.3 billion in FY2007 to nearly $8 billion today — a reflection not of community wealth so much as of how thoroughly Scarborough’s landscape has transformed from open land and working farms into taxable residential and commercial property.

This doesn’t mean Scarborough should close its doors to newcomers, or that the families who have settled here over the past few decades are anything other than welcome. But it does mean our community faces a genuine reckoning. As the FY2027 budget pushes toward $90 million in net taxpayer cost, residents are right to ask not just “How do we pay for this?” but “How did we get here, and is this the Scarborough we want to be?”

The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Scarborough Town Council.