An Act To Clarify the Municipal Development District Law
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1036
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: SIROCKI, FOSSEL, HARVELL, MALABY, O'CONNOR, STRANG BURGESS
Amends: 30-A MRSA §5222, 30-A MRSA §5224-A, 30-A MRSA §5226

Legislative Document 
No. 1036 
H.P. 770 
House of Representatives, March 10, 2011 
An Act To Clarify the Municipal Development District Law 
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative SIROCKI of Scarborough. 
Cosponsored by Representatives: FOSSEL of Alna, HARVELL of Farmington, MALABY of 
Hancock, O'CONNOR of Berwick, STRANG BURGESS of Cumberland. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §5222, sub-§1-B is enacted to read: 
1-B.  Blighted area.  "Blighted area" means an area within the corporate limits of a 
municipality that has been designated by the municipality's comprehensive plan as being 
underutilized and within which property values on an equal acreage basis are at least 75% 
below the surrounding areas due to the condition of the properties located in that area. 
Sec. 2.  30-A MRSA §5222, sub-§3-A is enacted to read: 
3-A.  Credit enhancement agreement.  "Credit enhancement agreement" means an 
agreement to rebate a portion of a tax increment to a property owner within a 
development district. 
Sec. 3.  30-A MRSA §5224-A is enacted to read: 
§5224-A.  Use of credit enhancement agreements 
1.  Use of credit enhancement agreements.  Credit enhancement agreements may 
be used to assist businesses wishing to locate in blighted areas when the number of 
persons employed full-time in any such business increases by at least 50% and the 
increased employment results from positions that are created by the business in the State.  
Rebates may not be paid pursuant to a credit enhancement agreement until the business 
certifies to the municipality that the 50% increase has occurred.  Rebates may not be paid 
retroactively. 
2.  Businesses without nonmanagement employees.  If a business locating in a 
blighted area has no nonmanagement employees, a rebate may not be paid pursuant to a 
credit enhancement agreement until the business creates at least 10 full-time positions per 
$1,000,000 of the increased assessed value.  The business may not count for the purposes 
of certification under subsection 1 any employees moved from another employment 
location of the same business that is located within 50 miles of the development district in 
order to qualify for a rebate. 
Sec. 4.  30-A MRSA §5226, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 669, §1, is 
amended to read: 
1.  Notice and hearing.  Before designating a development district or adopting a 
development program, the municipal legislative body or the municipal legislative body's 
designee must hold at least one public hearing.  Notice of the hearing must be published 
at least 10 20 days before the hearing in a newspaper of general circulation within the 
municipality.  Notice of the hearing must also be mailed by the municipality to all 
property owners whose outermost property lines are within 1,000 feet of any part of the 
proposed development district and to any other parties that the municipality knows or has 
reason to know will be directly or potentially affected by the proposed development 
district.  The same notice must be posted prominently on the front page of any publicly 
accessible website of the municipality. 
SUMMARY 
This bill defines the terms "blighted area" and "credit enhancement agreement" in the 
municipal development district laws and provides a mechanism for the use of credit 
enhancement agreements in blighted areas.  It also requires greater advance notice of 
public hearings on development districts and broadens the range of parties entitled to 
receive direct notice of such hearings.