Resolve, To Modify the State Valuation of the Town of Madison To Reflect the Loss in Valuation of the Madison Paper Company and To Modify the State Valuation of the Town of Skowhegan To Reflect the Loss in Valuation of the S.D. Warren Company
Maine Legislature, Session 127, LD 0281
Committee Amendment CA_A_H478 (House)
Amends: Title 20-A, Section 15672

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ,,/r. to H.P. 199, L.D. 281, "Resolve, To Modify 
the State Valuation of the Town of Madison To Reflect the Loss in Valuation of the 
Madison Paper Company and To Modify the State Valuation of the Town of Skowhegan 
To Reflect the Loss in Valuation of the S.D. Warren Company" 
Amend the resolve by striking out the title and substituting the following: 
'Resolve, To Modify the State Valuation of the Towns of Madison, Skowhegan, East 
Millinocket and Jay To Reflect the Loss of Valuation of Major Taxpayers in Those 
Towns' 
Amend the resolve by striking out everything after the title and before the summary 
and inserting the following: 
'Emergency preamble. Whereas, acts and resolves of the Legislature do not 
become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and 
Whereas, the value of property within a municipality is a major factor in the 
calculation of municipal revenue sharing and general purpose aid for local schools; and 
Whereas, the Town of Madison derives a large portion of its tax valuation from the 
presence of the Madison Paper Company, the Town of Skowhegan derives a large portion 
of its tax valuation from the presence of the S.D. Warren Company, the Town of East 
Millinocket derives a large portion of its tax valuation from the Great Northern Paper 
Company and the Town of Jay derives a large portion of its tax valuation from the Verso 
Paper Company; and 
Whereas, between the 2013 and 2014 tax years, the value of the Madison Paper 
Company has been reduced by $149,700,000, representing 65% of its taxable value; the 
value of the S.D. Warren Company has been reduced by $100,000,000, representing 18% 
of its taxable value; the value of the Great N orthem Paper Company has been reduced by 
$21,900,000, representing approximately 73% of its taxable value; and the value of the 
Verso Paper Company has been reduced by $200,095,110, representing 24.5% of its 
taxable value, as a result of the weakness in the market for printed paper products; and 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" n 
. to H.P. 199, L.D. 281 
Whereas, prior to this decrease, the Madison Paper Company represented 
approximately 40% of the tax base of the Town of Madison, the S.D. Warren Company 
represented approximately 53% of the tax base of the Town of Skowhegan, the Great 
Northern Paper Company represented approximately 28.8% of the tax base of the Town 
of East Millinocket and the Verso Paper Company represented approximately 75.7% of 
the tax base of the Town of Jay; and 
Whereas, unless immediate action is taken to account for this decrease in valuation, 
the Town of Madison, the Town of Skowhegan, the Town of East Millinocket and the 
Town of Jay will experience the loss of significant revenues based on the decreased 
valuation of the Madison Paper Company, the S.D. Warren Company, the Great Northern 
Paper Company and the Verso Paper Company; and 
Whereas, in the absence of legislative action, the state valuation of the Town of 
Madison, the Town of Skowhegan, the Town of East Millinocket and the Town of Jay 
will not be adjusted to reflect this significant reduction in value for 2 years; and 
Whereas, in the absence of legislative action, the distribution of general purpose aid 
for local schools to Regional School Unit No. 59, a school unit composed entirely of the 
Town of Madison; to Regional School Unit No. 54, a school unit composed of the towns 
of Skowhegan, Canaan, Cornville, Mercer, Smithfield and Norridgewock; to School 
Union No. 113, a school union composed of East Millinocket, Medway and Woodville 
and to Regional School Unit No. 73, a school unit composed of Jay, Livermore and 
Livermore Falls will be calculated on the basis of an inaccurate equalized valuation for at 
least 3 years; and 
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within 
the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as 
immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, 
therefore, be it 
Sec. 1. Modify 2015 state valuations and state-municipal revenue sharing. 
Resolved: That, notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 30-A, section 5681 
and Title 36, sections 208-A and 305, the State Treasurer shall use the following figures 
for state-municipal revenue sharing for fiscal year 2015-16: for the Town of Madison, 
the 2015 state valuation is deemed to be $349,850,000; for the Town of Skowhegan, the 
2015 state valuation is deemed to be $1,003,800,000; for the Town of East Millinocket, 
the 2015 state valuation is deemed to be $70,900,000; and for the Town of Jay, the 2015 
state valuation is deemed to be $801,950,000; and be it further 
Sec. 2. Modify state valuations; education funding; Madison. Resolved: 
That, notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15672, subsection 
23, paragraph C and Title 36, sections 208-A and 305, for the purpose of calculating 
property fiscal capacity for education funding under Title 20-A for fiscal year 2015-16 to 
fiscal year 2018-19, the Commissioner of Education shall use the following figures for 
the Town of Madison: the 2015 state valuation is deemed to be $349,850,000; the 2014 
state valuation is deemed to be $356,600,000; the 2013 state valuation is deemed to be 
$355,750,000; and the 2012 state valuation is deemed to be $361,450,000; and be it 
further 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
~ 
~~. 
COMMITIEE AMENDMENT 'fl' to H.P. 199, L.D. 281 
Sec. 3. 
Modify state valuations; education funding; Skowhegan. 
Resolved: That, notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15672, 
subsection 23, paragraph C and Title 36, sections 208-A and 305, for the purpose of 
calculating property fiscal capacity for education funding under Title 20-A for fiscal year 
2015-16 to fiscal year 2018-19, the Commissioner of Education shall use the following 
figures for the Town of Skowhegan: 
the 2015 state valuation is deemed to be 
$1,003,800,000; the 2014 state valuation is deemed to be $995,550,000; the 2013 state 
valuation is deemed to be $996,200,000; and the 2012 state valuation is deemed to be 
$991,900,000; and be it further 
Sec. 4. Modify state valuations; education funding; East Millinocket. 
Resolved: That, notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15672, 
subsection 23, paragraph C and Title 36, sections 208-A and 305, for the purpose of 
calculating property fiscal capacity for education funding under Title 20-A for fiscal year 
2015-16 to fiscal year 2018-19, the Commissioner of Education shall use the following 
figures for the Town of East Millinocket: the 2015 state valuation is deemed to be 
$70,900,000; the 2014 state valuation is deemed to be $77,250,000; the 2013 state 
valuation is deemed to be $79,600,000; and the 2012 state valuation is deemed to be 
$102,150,000; and be it further 
Sec. 5. Modify state valuations; education funding; Jay. Resolved: That, 
notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 20-A, section 15672, subsection 23, 
paragraph C and Title 36, sections 208-A and 305, for the purpose of calculating 
property fiscal capacity for education funding under Title 20-A for fiscal year 2015-16 to 
fiscal year 2018-19, the Commissioner' of Education shall use the following figures for 
the Town of Jay: the 2015 state valuation is deemed to be $801,950,000; the 2014 state 
valuation is deemed to be $818,954,890; the 2013 state valuation is deemed to be 
$804,454,890; and the 2012 state valuation is deemed to be $792,554,890. 
Emergency clause. 
ill view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this 
legislation takes effect when approved.' 
SUMMARY 
This amendment establishes adjustments to state valuations for the towns of Madison, 
Skowhegan, East Millinocket and Jay for the purposes of state-municipal revenue sharing 
and education funding to reflect the effect of significant losses in valuation of major 
taxpayers due to declines in the paper industry. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached) 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 06/17/15 
MaC!. 
LD281 
LR 175(02) 
Resolve, To Modify the State Valuation of the Town of Madison To Reflect the Loss in Valuation of 
the Madison Paper Company and To Modify the State Valuation of the Town of SkoWheganfjo 
Reflect the Loss in Valuation of the S.D. Warren Company 
} 1---10 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment '~' CH" '7 10 
Committee: Taxation 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
No net fiscal impact to State 
Distribution change to schools and municipalities 
A school administrative unit's (SAD's) required contribution to the SAD's total cost of education is determined by 
multiplying the full-value education mill rate by the "property fiscal capacity" as defined in Title 20-A, § 15672, sub-
§23, ~C. Beginning in fiscal year 2015-16, the "property fiscal capacity" is the average of the certified state 
valuations for the 3 most recent years prior to the most recently certified state valuation. For fiscal year 2015-16, thL 
average of the 2012,2013 and 2014 state valuations are used in the calculations of the state and local contributions for 
funding K-12 public education calculated by the Department of Education for the upcoming 2015-2016 school year. 
Modifying state valuations for the towns of Madison, Skowhegan, Jay and East Millinocket will increase state 
education subsidies by approximately $1.2 million to RSU 59 (Madison), $0.8 million to RSU 54 (Skowhegan), $0.7 
million to RSU 73 (Jay) and $0.1 million to East Millinocket for the 2015-2016 school year. This fiscal note assumes 
that an additional General Fund appropriation of approximately $2.8 million to the General Purpose Aid for Local 
Schools progra~ beyond the funding included in LD 1019, the 2016-17 biennial budget, will not be provided in fiscal 
year 2015-16 to support this provision. As a result, all other SAD's will see a corresponding decrease in education 
subsidies through an increase in the required mill rate of approximately .03 mills. These estimates are based on the 
funding for K-12 public education as enacted in LD 1019, the 2016-2017 biennial budget. This fiscal note may need 
to be revised based on the final actions of the 127th Legislature in the 1st Regular Session. 
This legislation will also result in a redistribution of the required local contribution for the members of RSU 59, RSU 
and RSU 73 with the towns of Madison, Skowhegan and Jay having their required local contribution reduced and 
the other members of those districts having their required local share increased. 
Modifying state valuations for the towns of Madison, Skowhegan and East Millinocket will increase state-municipal 
revenue sharing by approximately $138,000 to Madison, $52,500 to Skowhegan and $54,500 to East Millinocket for 
the 2015-16 fiscal year. This total increase of $245,000 will mean all other municipalities will see revenue sharing 
amounts decrease by $245,000 through the state-municipal revenue sharing formula. These estimates are based on t' 
funding for state-municipal revenue sharing as enacted in LD 1019, the 2016-2017 biennial budget. 
LROI75(02) - Fiscal Note - Page I of 1