An Act Related to the Report ofthe Tax Expenditure Review Task Force
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1762
House Amendment HA_A_H602 (House)
Amends: 36 MRSA §6201, 36 MRSA §6207, 36 MRSA §6216, 36 MRSA §6220, 36 MRSA §6221

HOUSE AMENDMENT ,,/I "to H.P. 1264, L.D. 1762, Bill, "An Act Related to the 
Report ofthe Tax Expenditure Review Task Force" 
Amend the bill by striking out all of section 1 and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 36 MRS A §5219-II, sub-§4 is enacted to read: 
4. 
Ineligibility. 
A resident individual who qualifies for a benefit under the 
Circuitbreaker Program is ineligible to receive the credit under this section. 
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §6201, sub-§l, as amended by PL 2007, c. 700, Pt. A, §1, is 
further amended to read: 
1. Benefit base. "Benefit base" means property taxes accrued or reBt eOBstitutiag 
property taxes aeerued. Ia the ease of a elaimant payiBg both reat aBd property taxes for 
a homestead, beBefit base means both property taxes aeerued aBd reBt eOBstitutiag 
property taxes aeerued. 
The benefit base may not exceed $3,350 for single-member 
households and $4,400 for households with 2 or more members. 
Sec. 3. 36 MRSA §6201, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2007, c. 438, §111, is 
further amended to read: 
2. Claimant. "Claimant" means an individual who has filed a claim under this 
chapter and who was domiciled in this State and occupied a homestead in this State 
during the entire year for which a claim for relief under this chapter is filed. "Claimant" 
also includes an individual who has filed a claim under this chapter and who was 
domiciled in this State and owned or otherwise maintained a homestead in this State 
during the entire year for which the claim for relief under this chapter is filed and 
occupied that homestead for at least 6 months during that year. Regardless of how many 
names of individuals appear on the property deed, the person who meets the 
qualifications described in this subsection and proves sole responsibility for the payment 
of the property taxes on the subject property is the claimant with respect to that property. 
If 2 or more individuals meet the qualifications in this subsection and share the paymeat 
of the reat or the responsibility for the payment of the property taxes, each individual may 
apply on the basis of the reat paid or the property taxes levied on the homestead that 
reflect the ownership percentage of the claimant and the claimant's household. 
HOUSE AMENDMENT 
HOUSE AMENDMENT ,11" to H.P. 1264, L.D. 1762 
If 2 or more individuals claim the same property, the matter must be referred to the State 
Tax Assessor, whose decision is final. Ownership of a homestead under this chapter may 
be by fee, by life tenancy, by bond for deed, as mortgagee or any other possessory 
interest in which the owner is personally responsible for the tax for which a refund is 
claimed. 
Sec. 4. 36 MRSA §6201, sub-§3, as amended by PL 2007, c. 438, §112, is 
further amended to read: 
3. Elderly household. "Elderly household" means a household in which, during the 
year for which relief is requested: 
lOA. At least one member of the household had attained the age of 62-;-.!. 
B. The claimaat was not married aad had attained the age of 55 aad was, ooe to 
disability, receiving federal disability flayments 
s~ch as 
s~flfllemental sec~rity 
income; or 
C. The claimant was married aad had attained the age of 55 aad both the olaimaat 
aad the claimaat's 
sflo~se were, ooe to disability, receiving federal disability 
paymeBts s~ch as ~flplemental seo~rity income. 
Sec. 5. 36 MRSA §6201, sub-§4, as amended by PL 1991, c. 824, Pt. A, §81, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 6. 36 MRSA §6201, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2011, c. 513, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
5. Homestead. "Homestead" means the dwelling owned or rented by the claimant or 
held in a revocable living trust for the benefit of the claimant and occupied by the 
claimant and the claimant's dependents as a home, and may consist of a part of a 
multidwelling or multipurpose building and a part of the land, up to 10 acres, upon which 
it is built. "Owned" includes a vendee in possession under a land contract and of one or 
more joint tenants or tenants in common and includes possession under a legally binding 
agreement that allows the owner of the dwelling to transfer the property but continue to 
occupy the dwelling as a home until some future event stated in the agreement. 
Sec. 7. 36 MRSA §6201, sub-§l1, as amended by PL 1987, c. 839, §1, is 
repealed. 
Sec. 8. 36 MRSA §6201, sub-§l1-A, as amended by PL 2005, c. 2, Pt. E, §2 and 
affected by §§7 and 8, is repealed. 
Sec. 9. 36 MRSA §6207, as amended by PL 2011, c. 380, Pt. P, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
§6207. Income limitations 
A claimant reflreseBting a nonelderly ho~sehold qualifies for the following benefits 
subject to the following income limitations. 
1. Benefit calculation. For claimants reflreseBting a nonelderly ho~sehold, the The 
benefit is calculated as follows: 
HOUSE AMENDMENT 
HOUSE AMENDMENT "fl" to H.P. 1264, L.D. 1762 
A-I. Fifty percent of that portion of the benefit base that exceeds 4% but does not 
exceed 8% of income plus 100% of that portion of the benefit base that exceeds 8% 
of income to a maximum payment of $2,000; asd $1,600. 
B. For applicatios periods begissisg os August 1,2009, August 1,2010, August 1, 
2011 asd August 1, 2012, the besefit is limited to gO% of the amoust deteffflised 
usder paragraph A 1. 
2-A. Income eligibility. For application periods beginning on or after August 1, 
2008, a single-member household with a household income in excess of $60,000 and a 
household with 2 or more members with a household income in excess of $80,000 are not 
eligible for a benefit. 
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. A claim of less than $10 may not be granted. 
Sec. 10. 36 MRSA §6216, first~, as enacted by PL 1987, c. 516, §§3 and 6 and 
amended by PL 2003, c. 689, Pt. B, §6, is further amended to read: 
It is the intent of the Legislature that any claim paid under this chapter shall must 
supplement any benefits paid under aid to the aged, blind aBd disabled or any program 
wffieh that succeeds or supplants it. The Department of Health and Human Services shall 
take any such action as may be necessary to assure ensure that recipients of aid to the 
aged, blind and disabled shall continue to receive as high a percentage of their current 
assistance as may be possible. To carry out this legislative directive, the department shall 
utilize all the state funds expected to be saved by a reduction in benefits of recipients of 
aid to the aged, blind aBd disabled resulting from this chapter to raise the standards of aid 
to the aged, blind aBd disabled at a total cost in state funds equivalent to the savings in 
state funds whieft that would be expected as a result of this chapter. 
Sec. 11. 36 MRSA §6220, as amended by PL 2011, c. 657, Pt. BB, § 15, is further 
amended to read: 
§6220. Coordination required 
The bureau shall seek the advice and cooperation of the Department of Health and 
Human Services; advocates for elderly aBd 10,\-" iseome individuals; and other interested 
agencies and organizations in developing the application form and instruction booklet for 
the Maine Residents Property Tax Program and the outreach plan required by section 
6219. 
Sec. 12. 36 MRSA §6221, as corrected by RR 2013, c. 1, §55, is amended to read: 
HOUSE AMENDMENT 
HOUSE AMENDMENT "R" to H.P. 1264, L.D. 1762 
§6221. Termination of Circuitbreaker Program for nonelderly households and rent 
No benefits Benefits are not allowed under this chapter for non elderly households or 
for rent constituting property taxes accrued for an application filed on or after August 1, 
2013. 
As used in this section, "nonelderly household" means a household that does not meet 
the definition of elderly household, and "rent constituting property taxes accrued" means 
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 constitutes the basis, in the succeeding calendar year, of a claim for relief 
under this chapter by the claimant. 
Sec. 13. PL 2013, c. 368, Pt. S, §8 is amended to read: 
Sec. 
8. 
Contingent reduction to 
municipal revenue sharing. 
Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, if legislation pursuant to this Part is 
not enacted into law before July 1, 2014 that generates an increase in budgeted General 
Fund revenue of at least $40,000,000 as estimated by the Office of Fiscal and Program 
Review, the amount transferred from the Local Government Fund to the General Fund 
under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30-A, section 5681, subsection 5-C in fiscal year 
2014-15 is increased by $40,000,000 $6,989.348.' 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment restores the Circuitbreaker Program, but only for households with at 
least one resident who is at least 62 years of age and only for property taxes paid, not for 
rent constituting property taxes paid. 
A person who qualifies under the modified 
Circuitbreaker Program is ineligible for the property tax fairness credit. This amendment 
retains the transfer from the Maine Budget Stabilization Fund of $21,000,000 and the Tax 
Relief Fund for Maine Residents of $4,000,000, as proposed in the bill, and reduces the 
amount of the transfer to state-municipal revenue sharing by $6,989,348, an amount equal 
to the estimated cost of the Circu'tbreake 
rogram as modified by this amendment. 
SPONSOREDBY::~~~~~~~~=2~~== 
(Representative P. 
TOWN: Arundel 
HOUSE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 0211 0114 ;tvac.. 
Net Cost (Savings) 
General Fund 
levenue 
General Fund 
LD 1762 
LR 2721(11) 
An Act Related to the Report of the Tax Expenditure Review Task Force 
Fiscal Note for House Amendment If(. to Original Bill 
Sponsor: Rep. Parry of Arundel 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
Projections 
FY 2013-14 
FY 2014-15 
FY 2015-16 
$0 
$0 
$7,243,950 
$0 
$0 
($7,243,950) 
Other Special Revenue Funds 
$0 
($6,094,348) 
$921,850 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Projections 
FY 2016-17 
$7,507,623 
/J,J .. -
($7,507,623) 
$949,506 
This amendment increases the General Fund cost of the bill by $7,243,950 in fiscal year 2015-16 and $7,507,623 in 
fiscal year 2016-17. The amendment also changes the transfer from the Local Government Fund to the General Fund 
under PL 2013, c. 368, Pt. S to $6,989,348 in fiscal year 2014-15, instead of repealing it. This transfer offsets the net 
fiscal year 2014-15 General Fund cost of the revenue changes of the provisions detailed below. 
FY 2013-14 
FY 2014-15 
FY 2015-16 
FY 2016-17 
Establishes the Circuitbreaker program for individuals aged 62 or older and only for property taxes paid 
- General Fund 
$0 
($23,994,348) 
($24,759,100) 
($25,54R,227) 
Eliminates the property tax fairness credit for individuals benefiting under the Circuitbreaker program 
- General Fund 
$0 
$17,005,000 
$17,515,150 
- Municipal Revenue Sharing 
$0 
$895,000 
$921,850 
LR2721(ll) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of 1 
$18,040,605 
$949,506