An Act To Improve the Process for Adjustment for Sudden and Severe Disruption of Valuation
Maine Legislature, Session 123, LD 1558
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: WOODBURY
Amends: 36 MRSA §208-A

Legislative Document 
No. 1558 
H.P.1083 
House of Representatives, March 20, 2007 
An Act To Improve the Process for Adjustment for Sudden and 
Severe Disruption of Valuation 
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed. 
Presented by Representative WOODBURY of Yarmouth. 
Primed on recycled p,l~r 
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MILLICENT M. MacFARLAND 
Clerk 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1. 5 MRS A §1532, sub-§7 is enacted to read: 
7. 
State valuation adjustments. The State Controller shall transfer to general 
purpose aid for local schools within the Department of Education amounts certified by 
the Commissioner of Education to be necessary to make the pavments require_Q. und~ 
Title 36, section 208-A. 
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §208-A, as amended by PL 2005, c. 332, § 11, is repealed and 
the following enacted in its place: 
§208-A. Adjustment for surlden and severe disruption of valuation 
II 
IS 
1. Request for adjustment. A municipality that has experienced a sudden and 
severe disruption in its municipal valuation may request an adjustment to the equalized 
valuation determined by the State Tax Assessor under section 208 for the pumoses of 
calculating distributions of education funding under Title 20-A, chapter 606-8 and state-
municipal revenue sharing under Title 30-A, section 5681. A municipalitv requesting an 
adjustment under this section must file a petition, with supporting documentation, with 
the State Tax Assessor and indicate the time period for which adjustments to distributions 
are requested under subsection 5. 
2. Sudden and severe disruption. A municipality experiences a sudden and severe 
disruption in its municipal valuation if: 
A. 
The municipality experiences an equalized net reduction in valuation of at least 
2% from the equalized valuation that would apply without adjustment under this 
section; 
B. 
The equalized net reduction is attributable to the closure, removal, replacement 
retrofit, obsolescence, disaster or abatement attributable to a single taxpayer; and 
C. 
The municipality's equalized tax rate of residential property exceeds the state 
average. 
3. Procedure. On receipt of a request by a municipality for adjustment under this 
section, the State Tax Assessor shall examine the documentation provided by the 
municipality and determine if the municipality qualifies for an adjustment under this 
section. 
If the State Tax Assessor determines that a municipality qualifies for an 
adiustment under this section, the State Tax Assessor shall calculate the amount of the 
adjustment for the municipality by determining the amount by which the state valuation 
determined under section 208 would be reduced as a result of the net sudden and severe 
disruption of equalized valuation and the time period to which adjustments under 
subsection 5 should apply. The State Tax Assessor may limit the time period or amount 
of adjustments to reflect the circumstances of the sudden and severe loss of valuation. 
4. 
Notifications. 
The State Tax Assessor shall notify the Commissioner of 
Education and the Treasurer of State of any adjustment to state valuation determined 
under this section and the time period to which the adjustment applies. 
Page) - 123LR0947(Ol)-1 
• 
II 
"C 
II 
5. Effect of modified state valuation. The determination of an adjustment to state 
valuation has the following effect. 
A. 
The Commissioner of Education shall calculate the amount by which the local 
~hare of education funding under Title 20-A, chapter 606-8 would have been 
increased if-the adjusted state valuation amount had been used for the applicable time 
perio_cL in calculating education funding obligations. The commissioner shall certify 
to the State Controller the amount required to make the necessary pavments and pay 
that amount to the municipality. 
B. 
The Treasurer of State shall use the adjusted state valuation amount instead of 
the valuation certified under section 305 in calculating future distributions of state-
muni~iPal revenue sharing. 
SUMMARY 
This bill changes the procedures for providing relief to municipalities that have 
experienced a sudden and severe loss of taxable valuation attributable to a single property 
taxpayer. The procedures in current law have become outdated because of recent changes 
to the school funding formula and are not flexible enough to deal with the variety of 
situations presented. The bill replaces the current pwcedures for adjustment of state 
valuation by permitting municipalities to apply to the State Tax Assessor for a 
determination at any time and requiring the State Tax Assessor to determine not only the 
amount of the adjustment but also the appropriate time period to which the adjustment 
should apply. The bill affects distributions for general purpose aid for local schools and 
state-municipal revenue sharing. The bill provides that funds needed to relieve affected 
municipalities \vill be paid from the Maine Budget Stabilization Fund rather than risking 
reductions in distributions to other municipalities.