An Act To Amend the Law Governing Tax Increment Financing Districts
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 0823
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: ROCHELO, HOBBINS, BEAUDOIN, BERRY, CASAVANT, FLEMINGS, HARLOW, COURTNEY, HASTINGS
Amends: 30-A MRSA §5222, 30-A MRSA §5223, 30-A MRSA §5225, 30-A MRSA §5231

Legislative Document 
No. 823 
H.P. 619 
House of Representatives, March 3, 2011 
An Act To Amend the Law Governing Tax Increment Financing 
Districts 
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative ROCHELO of Biddeford. 
Cosponsored by Senator HOBBINS of York and 
Representatives: BEAUDOIN of Biddeford, BERRY of Bowdoinham, CASAVANT of 
Biddeford, FLEMINGS of Bar Harbor, HARLOW of Portland, Senators: COURTNEY of 
York, HASTINGS of Oxford. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §5222, sub-§13, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 669, §1, is 
amended to read: 
13.  Original assessed value.  "Original assessed value" means the taxable assessed 
value of a development district as of March 31st of the tax year preceding the year in 
which it was designated. 
Sec. 2.  30-A MRSA §5223, sub-§3, ¶D, as amended by PL 2007, c. 693, §3 and 
affected by §37, is further amended to read: 
D.  The aggregate value of municipal general obligation indebtedness financed by the 
proceeds from tax increment financing districts within any county may not exceed 
$50,000,000 adjusted by a factor equal to the percentage change in the United States 
Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, United States City Average from 
January 1, 1996 to the date of calculation. 
(1)  The commissioner may adopt rules necessary to allocate or apportion the 
designation of captured assessed value of property within proposed tax increment 
financing districts to permit compliance with the condition in this paragraph.  
Rules adopted pursuant to this paragraph are routine technical rules as defined in 
Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A. 
(2)  The acquisition, construction and installment of all real and personal property 
improvements, buildings, structures, fixtures and equipment included within the 
development program and financed through municipal bonded indebtedness must 
be completed within 5 years of the commissioner's approval of the designation of 
the tax increment financing district. 
Sec. 3.  30-A MRSA §5225, sub-§1, ¶C, as amended by PL 2009, c. 314, §11, is 
further amended to read: 
C.  Costs related to economic development, environmental improvements or 
employment training within the municipality, including, but not limited to: 
(1)  Costs of funding economic development programs or events developed by 
the municipality or funding the marketing of the municipality as a business or 
arts location; 
(2)  Costs of funding environmental improvement projects developed by the 
municipality for commercial or arts district use or related to such activities; 
(3)  Funding to establish permanent economic development revolving loan funds 
or, investment funds or grants; 
(4)  Costs of services and equipment to provide skills development and training 
for residents of the municipality.  These costs may not exceed 20% of the total 
project costs and must be designated as training funds in the development 
program;  
(5) Quality child care costs, including finance costs and construction, staffing, 
training, certification and accreditation costs related to child care;  
(6)  Costs relating to planning, design, construction, maintenance, grooming and 
improvements to new or existing recreational trails determined by the department 
to have significant potential to promote economic development, including bridges 
that are part of the trail corridor, used all or in part for all-terrain vehicles, 
snowmobiles, hiking, bicycling, cross-country skiing or other related multiple 
uses; and 
(7) Costs associated with a new or expanded transit service, limited to: 
(a) Transit service capital costs, including but not limited to:  transit vehicles 
such as buses, ferries, vans, rail conveyances and related equipment; bus 
shelters and other transit-related structures; and benches, signs and other 
transit-related infrastructure; and 
(b) In the case of transit-oriented development districts, ongoing costs of 
adding to an existing transit system or creating a new transit service and 
limited strictly to transit operator salaries, transit vehicle fuel and transit 
vehicle parts replacements; and 
Sec. 4.  30-A MRSA §5231, as enacted by PL 2001, c. 669, §1, is amended to 
read: 
§5231.  Bond financing 
The legislative body of a municipality may authorize, issue and sell bonds, including, 
but not limited to, general obligation or revenue bonds or notes, that mature within 20 30 
years from the date of issue to finance all project costs needed to carry out the 
development program within the development district.  The municipal officers authorized 
to issue the bonds or notes may borrow money in anticipation of the sale of the bonds for 
a period of up to 3 years by issuing temporary notes and notes in renewal of the bonds.  
All revenues derived under section 5227 or under section 5228, subsection 1 received by 
the municipality are pledged for the payment of the activities described in the 
development program and used to reduce or cancel the taxes that may otherwise be 
required to be expended for that purpose.  The notes, bonds or other forms of financing 
may not be included when computing the municipality's net debt.  Nothing in this section 
restricts the ability of the municipality to raise revenue for the payment of project costs in 
any manner otherwise authorized by law. 
SUMMARY 
This bill changes the definition of "original assessed value" related to municipal 
development districts from the "assessed value" of the district to the "taxable assessed 
value" of the district.  The bill repeals the requirement that a project financed through 
municipal bonded indebtedness must be completed within 5 years of the commissioner's 
approval of the designation of the tax increment financing district.  It allows 
municipalities that choose to use tax increment financing to cover costs related to 
economic development to use the funds for grants in addition to revolving loan funds and 
investment funds.  It increases the maturity date on the bonds that a municipality may 
authorize to finance project costs from 20 to 30 years from the date of issuance.