Lewiston, Maine
Crime, higher taxes and a government that refuses to answer.
The Accountability Project
Records & documents
Every card below links directly to the public record, news report or government document behind it. No estimates. No guesses.
The FY25 school budget carried roughly a 9% property-tax increase after two earlier, larger versions were voted down. The city side raised the rate again the following year. Working families are paying more before they see the difference.
A citizen petition backed by 966 certified signatures pushed a one-for-one syringe limit onto the November 2026 ballot after the City Council voted 7-0 to punt the question to voters instead of ruling on it directly. Cleanup volunteers reported collecting more than 1,000 discarded syringes from three sites in about three hours.
Records show Lewiston police were down nine officers — a dozen counting medical leave — as of August 2025. Starting pay of $31.55/hour lagged Saco, Biddeford, Scarborough, Falmouth, Westbrook and Bangor. The city administrator said openly that recruits have little reason to choose Lewiston over higher-paying departments nearby.
Police Chief Carly Conley said Lewiston had recorded 15 shootings so far in 2026, nine involving juveniles, and that some repeat offenders were tied to as many as five separate shooting incidents. "There has to be some mechanism that prevents the same kids from repeatedly ending up involved in shootings and violent crime," Conley said.
The City Council voted 6-0 to censure two of its own members for communicating with a city employee through Signal, an auto-delete messaging app, during an active investigation. The council found the conduct violated Maine's Freedom of Access Act. Both councilors apologized; both kept their votes and seats.
Original reporting from Maine outlets covering Lewiston's public safety, taxes and City Hall.
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