An Act To Return Funds to Maine Property Tax Payers
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 1713
Committee Amendment CA_A_H620 (House)

COMMITTEE AMENDMENT "A" to H.P. 1223, L.D. 1713, Bill, "An Act To 
Return Funds to Maine Property Tax Payers" 
Amend the bill in section 1 in §1518-A in subsection 1 in the last line (page 1, line 11 
in L.D.) by inserting after the following: "subsection 1-B" the following: 'and pay the 
costs of the Treasurer of State for administering relief payments under this section' 
Amend the bill in section 1 in § 1518-A by striking out all of subsection 1-A (page 1, 
lines 12 to 32 in L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'1-A. Implementation. By September 1, 2016 November 1, 2019 and annually 
thereafter, the State Controller shall inform the State Tax. f.ssessor Treasurer of State of 
the amount available in the fund for the purposes of subsection 1. 
A. Yy No-vember 1st a:1H1aally, the State Tax. f .. ssessor shall salc:a-1.ate the amount by 
whieh the insome tax. rates under Title 36, sectioa 5111, s:absestioas 1 F, 2 Fans. 3 F 
may be redased dur..ng the sabseq-aeH:t tax. year asing the am.oWlt available from the 
fund. "Bracket rate redastioos mast be a minimum of 0.2 persentage points in the first 
year in whish redastioos are made aRd a Hlffillllum of 0.1 perceatage points in 
sabseqasnt years. If saffisient funds are Rot available to pay for the mmimum 
redastioa, a rate redastioa may aot be made ootil the ammmt in the fund is saffisieH:t 
to pay for the redactioa. Whea the amoant is sufficieH:t to pay for the reeastioll:, the 
redustioll mast first be applied eqaally to each bracket oocler Title 36, seetiOB: 5111, 
sabsectioos 1 F, 2 F all.a 3 F ootil the lower bracket reashes 4%. Fl'lll:cls a¥ailable 
from the funcl in sabsequoot years must be applied to reduse the higher brasket rates 
until there is a single bracket with a rate of 4%, after which future tax. relief may be 
ideH:tified. 
R The State Tax. Assessor shall provide public aotise of aev,r brasket rates saloulated 
mider this subsectioa by November 15th a1:m11ally. 
C. N@.v bracket rates saloulated mider this sabsectioa apply begmning ,.vith tax. years 
that begin oa or after JaRaary 1st of the saleooar year follmving the detenninatioas 
mads under this subssetion.' 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEEAMENDMENT"A "toH.P.1223,L.D.1713 
Amend the bill in section 1 in §1518-A in subsection 1-B by striking out all of 
paragraphs B to D (page 2, lines 5 to 20 in L.D.) and inserting the following: 
'B. By November 15, 2019 and annually thereafter, the Treasurer of State shall 
determine whether the amount available in the fund is sufficient to make a relief 
payment of at least $100 to the property tax payer for each homestead in the State, to 
pay for the Treasurer of State's costs in administering relief payments and to make 
state payments to municipalities for costs related to relief payments pursuant to a 
mandate under the Constitution of Maine, Article IX, Section 21. If the amount 
available in the fund is sufficient to make a relief payment of at least $100 to the 
property tax payer for each homestead in the State. to pay for the Treasurer of State's 
costs in administering relief payments and to make state payments to municipalities 
for costs related to relief payments pursuant to a mandate under the Constitution of 
Maine, Article IX, Section 21. the Treasurer of State shall direct the assessor for each 
municipality and the State Tax Assessor for the unorganized territory to report to the 
Treasurer of State by the following January 1st the name and address of the property 
tax payer for each homestead within the assessor's jurisdiction. 
C. Using the data provided pursuant to paragraph B, the Treasurer of State shall 
determine the amount of relief payment each property tax payer is entitled to by 
dividing the amount of the funds available in the fund, after subtraction of the 
Treasurer of State's costs in administering relief payments and making state payments 
to municipalities for mandate costs, by the total number of homesteads in the State. 
D. By March 1st in any year in which the Treasurer of State determines under 
paragraph C that the relief payment to each property tax payer for a homestead equals 
or exceeds $100. the Treasurer of State shall make the relief payment determined 
under paragraph C by mail to the property tax payer at the address provided to the 
Treasurer of State under paragraph B or by any other effective means. Funds for the 
relief payments must come from the fund. 
The Treasurer of State shall certify 
annually to the State Controller the total cost of relief payments made under this 
section. the total costs to the Treasurer of State in administering this section and the 
total costs to make state payments to municipalities for costs related to relief 
payments pursuant to a mandate under the Constitution of Maine. Article IX. Section 
21. The State Controller shall transfer those amounts from the fund to the Property 
Tax Relief Program. an Other Special Revenue Funds account in the Office of the 
Treasurer of State, to cover the cost of relief payments. the costs of the Treasurer of 
State in administering this section and the cost to make state payments to 
municipalities for costs related to relief payments pursuant to mandates under the 
Constitution of Maine, Article IX. Section 21.' 
Amend the bill in section 1 in § 1518-A in subsection 5 in the first line (page 2, line 
in L.D.) by striking out the following: "January 2. 2020" and inserting the following: 
'March 10, 2020' 
Amend the bill by inserting after section 3 the following: 
'Sec. 4. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and 
allocations are made. 
TREASURER OF STATE, OFFICE OF 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEE AMENDMENT" A" to H.P. 1223, L.D. 1713 
Property Tax Relief Fund for Maine Residents N334 
Initiative: Allocates funds for printing and postage costs to mail property tax relief 
payments. 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
All Other 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL 
Property Tax Relief Fund for Maine Residents N334 
2019-20 
$186,000 
$186,000 
2020-21 
$186,000 
$186,000 
Initiative: Allocates funds to reimburse municipalities for the mandated cost of making 
O 
property tax relief payments. 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
All Other 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL 
Property Tax Relief Fund for Maine Residents N334 
2019-20 
$20,000 
$20,000 
2020-21 
$20,000 
$20,000 
Initiative: Provides funding for a base allocation for the distribution of property tax relief 
payments. 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
All Other 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS TOTAL 
TREASURER OF STATE, OFFICE OF 
DEPARTMENT TOTALS 
OTHER SPECIAL REVENUE FUNDS 
DEPARTMENT TOTAL-ALL FUNDS 
2019-20 
$500 
$500 
2019-20 
$206,500 
$206,500 
2020-21 
$500 
$500 
2020-21 
$206,500 
$206,500 
Amend the bill by relettering or renumbering any nonconsecutive Part letter or 
section number to read consecutively. 
SUMMARY 
This amendment changes the responsibility for calculating property tax relief 
payments from the State Tax Assessor to the Treasurer of State and changes dates for 
steps in the process of calculating and making relief payments. The amendment also 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
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COMMITTEEAMENDMENT"A "toH.P.1223,L.D.1713 
provides that the Treasurer of State's costs in administering relief payments and in 
making state payments to municipalities for mandate costs are also paid from the 
Property Tax Relief Fund for Maine Residents and it adds an appropriations and 
allocations section. 
FISCAL NOTE REQUIRED 
(See attached} 
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT 
Approved: 06/14/19 Mac:. 
LD 1713 
LR2496(02) 
An Act To Return Funds to Maine Property Tax Payers 
Fiscal Note for Bill as Amended by Committee Amendment~( /./-fo ao) 
Committee: Taxation 
Fiscal Note Required: Yes 
Fiscal Note 
State Mandate - Funded 
FY2019-20 
FY2020-21 
Projections 
FY2021-22 
Projections 
FY 2022~23 
Appropriations/ Allocations 
Other Special Revenue Funds 
$206,500 
$206,500 
$206,500 
$206,500 
State Mandates 
Required Activity 
Requires the assessors to send a list of names and addresses of each property tax 
payer for each homestead. 
Unit Affected 
Local Cost 
Municipality 
$20,000 
The required local activities in this bill may represent a state mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine. If the bill 
does require a local unit of government to expand or modify its activities so as to necessitate additional expenditures 
from local revenue, the state mandate provisions of the Constitution of Maine require either: (1) General Fund 
appropriations be provided to fund at least 90% of any additional necessitated local costs of the mandate; or (2) a 
Mandate Preamble be added to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt the mandate from 
the funding requirement. If the bill does represent a state mandate and neither one of these actions occurs, the local 
units of government will not be required to implement the mandated activities. 
Fiscal Detail and Notes 
The bill replaces the Tax Relief Fund for Maine Residents with the Property Tax Relief Fund for Maine Residents." As 
with the legacy Tax Relief Fund, the new Property Tax Relief Fund will be funded annually through the so-called 
11cascade
, receiving 20% of the unappropriated surplus of the General Fund after all required deductions are made. 
Payments will be made to residents of the State whose residence qualifies for an exemption under the Maine 
homestead property tax exemption. The amount of the tax relief payment will be determined annually by dividing the 
total amount of funds available in the new Property Tax Relief Fund (net of administrative costs) by the number of 
homesteads that qualify for the Maine homestead property tax exemption. If that amount is at least $100 per 
homestead, the Treasurer will mail tax relief checks to each qualifying homestead. 
LR2496(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 1 of2 
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Assuming an estimated 305,500 homesteads in Maine, in order to trigger payments to property tax payers and to cover 
administrative costs, there would need to be approximately $30,800,000 in the Fund. As of the end of May 2019, 
there was $28,442,633 in the legacy Tax Relief Fund. This amount will likely be augmented at the close of fiscal year 
2018-19 from distributions from the "cascade". The amount of any additional "cascade" distributions is not known at 
this time, therefore it is not known whether and when sufficient funds will be available in the Property Tax Relief 
Fund to make property tax relief payments to property tax payers. 
The bill includes ongoing Other Special Revenue Funds allocations of $500 beginning in fiscal year 2019-20 in the 
event that property tax relief payments are made. The bill also includes ongoing Other Special Revenue Funds 
allocations to the fund of $186,000 beginning in fiscal year 2019-20 for the Office of Treasurer of State for printing 
and postage costs to mail property tax relief payments. 
Additionally, it also includes ongoing Other Special Revenue 
Funds allocations of $20,000 beginning in fiscal year 2019-20 for the Office of Treasurer of State to reimburse 
municipalities for the mandated administrative costs of making relief payments. 
LR2496(02) - Fiscal Note - Page 2 of2