An Act To Allow a Municipality To Abate Taxes Assessed on Property That Is Destroyed
Maine Legislature, Session 126, LD 1610
Committee Amendment CA_A_H643 (House)
Amends: 36 MRSA §6232

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "{t,, to H.P. 1182, L.D. 1610, Bill, "An Act To 
Allow a Municipality To Abate Taxes Assessed on Property That Is Destroyed" 
Amend the bill by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'An Act To Allow a Municipality To Provide Reliefto a Person Whose Homestead Is 
Destroyed' 
Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the 
summary and inserting the following: 
'Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §6232, suh-§l, as amended by PL 2007, c. 635, §1, is further 
amended to read: 
1. Conditions of program. Except as provided in subsection subsections I-A and 
I-B, a program adopted under this section must: 
A. Require that the claimant has a homestead in the municipality; 
B. Provide benefits for both owners and renters of homesteads; and 
C. 
Calculate benefits in a way that provides greater benefits proportionally to 
claimants with lower incomes in relation to their property taxes accrued or rent 
constituting property taxes accrued. 
Sec. 2. 36 MRS A §6232, sub-§l-B is enacted to read: 
I-B. Homestead destroyed after Aprillst. A municipality may by ordinance adopt 
a program that provides benefits to persons with homesteads in the municipality in 
response to the diminishment of the value of the person's homestead, as defined in section 
681, subsection 2, due to the destruction of the homestead after April 1 st and before the 
date of the co111l11itment of taxes pursuant to section 709 or 709-A. The ordinance must 
provide that a taxpayer seeking benefits pursuant to the ordinance must file a written 
application with the municipal officers requesting benefits and stating the grounds for the 
request within a timely period after the date of the destruction of the property and before 
the date of co111l11itment. 
For the purposes of this subsection. "destruction" means 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
ROFS 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "~,, to H.P. 1182, L.D. 1610 
damage to real property from fire, explosion or natural disaster that reduces the just value 
of the homestead by at least 50%. An ordinance adopted pursuant to this subsection must 
provide factors for the municipal officers to review when considering a request for 
benefits under this subsection including the time of year the destruction occurred in 
relation to the tax year as well as the municipality's fiscal year, the causes and origins of 
the destruction, the degree to which the destroyed property was insured, the likelihood of 
prompt reconstruction and the impact on the municipal treasury if benefits are granted. 
Sec. 3. Application; retroactivity; exception. This Act applies retroactively to 
property tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2013. Notwithstanding the Maine 
Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 6232, subsection I-B, a municipal ordinance adopted 
pursuant to this Act may permit municipal officers to waive the requirement of a timely 
filing of an application for benefits with respect to destruction of property that occurred 
before the effective date of this Act.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment, which is the minority report of the committee, changes the form of 
relief that a municipality is authorized to provide to a person whose homestead is 
destroyed from a property tax abatement to a municipal benefit program. 
The 
amendment also provides that the destroyed property must be the applicant's homestead 
and requires that an application for the benefit must be made after April 1 st and before 
the date of the commitment of taxes. 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT