An Act To Amend the Law Governing Abatements of Property Taxes for Infirmity or Poverty
Maine Legislature, Session 125, LD 1693
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: KESCHL, KATZ, BLACK, CLARK, FLOOD, FREDETTE, HARMON, O'CONNOR, SANDERSON, THOMAS
Amends: 36 MRSA §841, 36 MRSA §6201, 36 MRSA §6204-A

Legislative Document 
No. 1693 
H.P. 1245 
House of Representatives, December 23, 2011 
An Act To Amend the Law Governing Abatements of Property 
Taxes for Infirmity or Poverty 
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203. 
Received by the Clerk of the House on December 21, 2011.  Referred to the Committee on 
Taxation pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401. 
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST 
Clerk 
Presented by Representative KESCHL of Belgrade. 
Cosponsored by Senator KATZ of Kennebec and 
Representatives: BLACK of Wilton, CLARK of Easton, FLOOD of Winthrop, FREDETTE of 
Newport, HARMON of Palermo, O'CONNOR of Berwick, SANDERSON of Chelsea, 
Senator: THOMAS of Somerset. 
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  36 MRSA §841, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2005, c. 169, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
2.  Infirmity or poverty.  The municipal officers, or the State Tax Assessor for the 
unorganized territory, within 3 years from commitment, may, on their own knowledge or 
on written application therefor, make such abatements as they believe reasonable on the 
real and personal taxes on the primary residence of any person who, by reason of 
infirmity or poverty, is in their judgment unable to contribute to the public charges.  The 
municipal officers, or the State Tax Assessor for the unorganized territory, may extend 
the 3-year period within which they may make abatements under this subsection. 
Municipal officers or the State Tax Assessor for the unorganized territory shall: 
A.  Provide that any person indicating an inability to pay all or part of taxes that have 
been assessed because of poverty or infirmity be informed of the right to make 
application under this subsection; 
B.  Assist individuals in making application for abatement; 
C.  Make available application forms for requesting an abatement based on poverty or 
infirmity and provide that those forms contain notice that a written decision will be 
made within 30 days of the date of application; 
D.  Provide that persons are given the opportunity to apply for an abatement during 
normal business hours; 
E.  Provide that all applications, information submitted in support of the application, 
files and communications relating to an application for abatement and the 
determination on the application for abatement are confidential.  Hearings and 
proceedings held pursuant to this subsection must be in executive session; 
F.  Provide to any person applying for abatement under this subsection, notice in 
writing of their decision within 30 days of application; and 
G.  Provide that any decision made under this subsection include the specific reason 
or reasons for the decision and inform the applicant of the right to appeal and the 
procedure for requesting an appeal. 
For the purpose of this subsection, benefits provided under chapter 907 are deemed 
available to the applicant for the purpose of contributing to the public charges. 
Sec. 2.  36 MRSA §6201, sub-§10, as amended by PL 2007, c. 325, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
10.  Property taxes accrued. "Property taxes accrued" means property taxes actually 
paid by the claimant exclusive of special assessment, delinquent interest and charges for 
service levied on a claimant's homestead in this State as of April 1, 1972, or any tax year 
thereafter. If a homestead is owned by 2 or more persons or entities as joint tenants or 
tenants in common, and one or more persons or entities are not members of the claimant's 
household, "property taxes accrued" is that part of property taxes levied on the homestead 
that reflects the ownership percentage of the claimant and the claimant's household and 
paid by the claimant. If a claimant and spouse own their homestead for part of the year 
for which relief is requested and rent it or a different homestead for part of the same tax 
year, "property taxes accrued" means taxes levied on the homestead on April 1st, 
multiplied by the percentage of 12 months that the property was owned and occupied by 
the household as its homestead during the year for which relief is requested, and paid by 
the claimant. When a household owns and occupies 2 or more different homesteads in 
this State in the same calendar year, property taxes accrued relate only to the total of the 
property taxes owed and actually paid for the time that each property was occupied by the 
household as a homestead. To calculate the amount attributable to each property, the 
April 1st assessment on each homestead is multiplied by the percentage of 12 months that 
each property was owned and occupied by the claimant as the claimant's homestead 
during the year for which relief is requested.  If a homestead is an integral part of a larger 
unit such as a farm, or a multipurpose or multidwelling building, property taxes accrued 
are that percentage of the total property taxes accrued and actually paid that the value of 
the homestead is of the total value, except that property taxes accrued do not include any 
portion of taxes claimed as a business expense for federal income tax purposes. For 
purposes of this chapter, "unit" refers to the parcel of property separately assessed of 
which the homestead is a part. 
Sec. 3.  36 MRSA §6204-A is enacted to read: 
§6204-A.  Proof of payment of taxes 
For applications filed on or after August 1, 2012, a claimant shall provide proof of 
payment of the property taxes accrued for which the claimant is seeking reimbursement 
under this chapter.  A claimant who receives an abatement of property taxes based on 
infirmity or poverty pursuant to section 841, subsection 2 may not claim that portion of 
property taxes abated. 
SUMMARY 
This bill provides that benefits issued to a property owner under the Circuitbreaker 
Program are deemed available to contribute to the public charges for the purposes of 
calculating eligibility at the municipal level for a property tax abatement for reasons of 
infirmity or poverty. 
Under the Circuitbreaker Program, an owner of property files for a reimbursement 
benefit based on the property taxes accrued, but not necessarily paid, from the prior 
calendar year on the owner's homestead.  This bill amends the Circuitbreaker Program to 
specify that the reimbursement benefit is calculated based on the property taxes actually 
paid by the owner on that owner's homestead and requires the claimant to provide proof 
of payment.  Any property taxes abated by a municipality for infirmity or poverty may 
not be claimed under the Circuitbreaker Program.