LEWISTON – The bottom line: $287. That’s what the owner of a $100,000 home here can expect to pay in higher property taxes under a revaluation plan.

Residential property taxes would go up 10.8 percent based on the revaluations. That represents about $163 of the $287, according to the plan released to city councilors on Tuesday.

Add in the 4.6 percent increase planned in city spending – about $124 on the tax bill for that $100,000 home in 2007. All told, it would mean a property tax bill increase of about $287 for that $100,000 home.

Property tax bills for businesses and commercial properties would stay flat or decrease slightly, City Administrator Jim Bennett said.

Bennett said residential property taxes would increase no more than 10.8 percent, and actual increases could be smaller depending on final property values and budget trimming.

“It’s a cap,” he said. “No residential tax bill will go up more than that and many will go up less. But if people want something to plan on, (10.8 percent) is a good place to start.”

According to the revaluation plan, the city would increase residential property values by 20 percent for the 2008 fiscal year compared to 2007 values. Values for other properties would increase between 10 and 15 percent.

That would bring the city’s overall assessed value to about 75 percent of market value, within state guidelines. It lets the city skip a full property revaluation this year, phasing full values in by 2009.

Councilors should vote on the phase-in when they adopt the budget this June. A public hearing on the city budget is scheduled for May 21.

The council scrapped a full revaluation last year that would have increased residential values by 108 percent on average and meant tax increases on five of every six homes.

The full revaluation would bring the total citywide value to about $2.3 billion. The phase-in plan would increase the city’s assessed value to about $1.7 billion by contrast.

Councilors wrapped up discussions about the rest of the municipal budget Tuesday night. Under that budget, property tax collections would increase by $2.1 million.