An Act to Expand the Maine Residents Property Tax Program
Maine Legislature, Session 121, LD 0206
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: MILLS, EDER
Amends: 36 MRSA §683, 36 MRSA §620, 36 MRSA §6207, 36 MRSA §6209

Legislative Document 
No. 206 
H.P.165 
House of Representatives, January 21, 2003 
An Act to Expand the Maine Residents Property Tax Program 
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative MILLS of Cornville. 
Cosponsored by Representative: EDER of Portland. 
Printed on recycled paper 
/J'l~ /J7.1ll~ 
MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §683, sub-§I, as enacted by PL 1997, c. 643, 
Pt. HHH, §3 and affected by §10, is amended to read: 
1. 
Exemption amount. 
The estate up to the just value of 
:rhQQQ $3,000 of the homestead of a permanent resident of this 
State who has owned a homestead in this State for the preceding 
months is exempt from taxation except for assessments for 
special benefits. 
In determining the local assessed value of the 
exemption, 
the 
assessor 
shall 
multiply 
the 
amount 
of 
the 
exemption by the ratio of current just value upon which the 
assessment is based as furnished in the assessor's annual return 
pursuant to section 383. 
If the title to a homestead is held by 
the applicant jointly or in common with others, the exemption may 
not exceed $+TQQQ $3,000 of the just value of the homestead, but 
may be apportioned among the owners who reside on the property to 
the 
extent 
of 
their 
respective 
interests. 
A 
municipality 
responsible 
for 
administering the homestead exemption has 
no 
obligation to create separate accounts for each partial interest 
in a homestead owned jointly or in common. 
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §620I, sub-§II-A, as amended by PL 1999, c. 
401, Pt. R, §1 and affected by §2, is further amended to read: 
II-A. 
Rent 
constituting 
property 
taxes 
accrued 
for 
nonelderly household. 
"Rent constituting property taxes accrued 
for 
nonelderly 
household" 
means 
;),8% 
~ of 
the 
gross 
rent 
actually paid in cash or its equivalent in any tax year by a 
claimant and the claimant's household solely for the right of 
occupancy of their Maine homestead in the tax year and which rent 
consti tutes the basis, in the succeeding calendar year, 
of a 
claim for relief under this chapter by the claimant. 
Sec. 3. 36 MRSA §6207, as amended by PL 1999, c. 494, §l, is 
further amended to read: 
§6207. 
Benefits for nonelderly households 
A claimant representing a nonelderly household qualifies for 
the 
following 
benefits 
subject 
to 
the 
following 
income 
limitations. 
1. 
Benefit 
calculation. 
For 
claimants 
representing 
a 
nonelderly household, the benefit is calculated as follows: 
A-I. 
Fifit.y Eighty percent of that portion of the benefit 
base that exceeds 4% 
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- g % 0 f 
income to a maximum payment of $±TQQQ $3,000. 
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3. 
Subsidized housing; special needs payment. 
A claim may 
not be granted under this section to claimants: 
A. 
Whose housing costs for the year for which relief is 
requested were subsidized by government programs that limit 
housing costs to a percentage of household income, except 
that the exclusion provided by this paragraph does not apply 
to 
persons 
receiving 
social 
security 
disability 
or 
supplemental security income disability benefits. 
4. Minimum benefit. 
granted. 
A claim of less than $10 may not be 
Sec. 4. 36 MRSA §6209, as amended by PL 1989, c. 508, §25, is 
further amended to read: 
§6209. Annual adjustment 
1. 
Household limitation adjustment. 
Beginning March 
1, 
1989, 
and 
annually thereafter, 
the State Tax 
Assessor shall 
determine the household 
income eligibility adjustment factor. 
That factor sbe±± must be multiplied by the income limitations in 
section 6206, applicable for the year prior to that for which 
relief is requested. 
The result sba;!,± must be rounded to the 
nearest $100 and sba;!,;!,-aFF±Y applies to the year for which relief 
is requested corresponding to the year on which the annualized 
cost of living adjustments were based. 
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SUMMARY 
This bill provides expanded property tax relief for the 
homestead property of persons with a high property tax burden by 
expanding the Maine Residents Property Tax Program to provide 
benefits equal to 80% of the property taxes for a homestead that 
exceed 
4% 
of 
the 
taxpayer's 
income. 
The 
amount 
of 
rent 
constituting property taxes accrued for nonelderly households is 
increased from 18q,0 to 20°",. 
The income eligibility requirements 
are repealed. 
The cost of expanding the Maine Residents Property 
Tax Program is compensated for by decreasing the Maine resident 
homestead property tax exemption from $7,000 to $3,000.