An Act To Make Technical Changes to Maine Tax Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 130, LD 1757
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: TERRY
Amends: 36 MRSA §191, 36 MRSA §310, 36 MRSA §705, 36 MRSA §751, 36 MRSA §843, 36 MRSA §891, 36 MRSA §943

Legislative Document
No. 1757
H.P. 1308
House of Representatives, December 2, 2021
An Act To Make Technical Changes to Maine Tax Laws
Submitted by the Department of Administrative and Financial Services pursuant to Joint 
Rule 203.
Received by the Clerk of the House on November 30, 2021.  Referred to the Committee on 
Taxation pursuant to Joint Rule 308.2 and ordered printed pursuant to Joint Rule 401.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative TERRY of Gorham.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
PART A
Sec. A-1.  36 MRSA §191, sub-§2, ¶Z, as amended by PL 2019, c. 498, §25, is 
repealed.
PART B
Sec. B-1.  36 MRSA §310, first ¶, as amended by PL 1981, c. 330 and PL 1997, c. 
526, §14, is further amended to read:
The Bureau of Revenue Services shall hold qualifying examinations for assessors at 
least 4 2 times each year.
Sec. B-2.  36 MRSA §705, as amended by PL 1973, c. 620, §15, is further amended 
to read:
§705.  County commissioners may appoint assessors; procedure
If for 3 months after any warrant for a state or county tax has been issued, a 
municipality which that is not part of a primary assessing area or is not a primary assessing 
area has neglected to choose assessors, or the assessors chosen have neglected to assess 
and certify such tax, the Treasurer of State or of the county treasurer of the county in which 
that municipality is located may so notify the county commissioners.
On receipt of such notification the county commissioners shall appoint 3 or more 
suitable persons in the county to be assessors for such municipality. New warrants shall 
must be issued to such those assessors, which said; those warrants shall supersede the state 
and county warrants originally issued to the assessors of the delinquent municipality.
Assessors appointed under this section shall must be duly sworn; shall be are subject 
to the same duties and penalties as other assessors; and shall assess upon the polls and 
estates of the municipality its due proportion of state and county taxes, and such reasonable 
charges for time and expense in making the assessment as the county commissioners may 
approve, which said; such charges shall must be paid from the county treasury.
Sec. B-3.  36 MRSA §751 is amended to read:
§751.  State and county County taxes; collection
State and county taxes shall be collected by the The tax collector and paid by him shall 
collect county taxes and pay those taxes to the treasurer of his the municipality as other 
taxes are paid.
Sec. B-4.  36 MRSA §843, sub-§4, as amended by PL 2019, c. 379, Pt. A, §5, is 
further amended to read:
4.  Payment requirements for taxpayers.  A taxpayer filing an appeal under this 
section must pay an amount of current taxes equal to the greater of the amount of taxes paid 
in the immediately preceding tax year, to the extent that amount does not exceed the amount 
of taxes due in the current tax year, and the amount of taxes in the current tax year that is 
not in dispute. If the taxpayer has filed an appeal under this section without having paid an 
amount of current taxes equal to the amount of taxes paid in the immediately preceding tax 
year, as long as that amount does not exceed the amount of taxes due in the current tax year 
or the amount of taxes in the current tax year not in dispute, whichever is greater, paying 
the appropriate amount of taxes by or after the due date or according to a payment schedule 
mutually agreed to in writing by the taxpayer and the municipal officers, the appeal process 
must be suspended until the taxes, together with any accrued interest and costs, have been 
paid.  If an appeal is in process upon expiration of a due date or written payment schedule 
date for payment of taxes in a particular municipality, without the appropriate amount of 
taxes having been paid, whether the taxes are due for the year under appeal or a subsequent 
tax year, the appeal process must be suspended until the appropriate amount of taxes 
described in this subsection, together with any accrued interest and costs, has been paid. 
This subsection does not apply to property with a valuation of less than $500,000.
Sec. B-5.  36 MRSA §891 is amended to read:
§891.  Collection of delinquent state and county taxes
When the time for the payment of a state or county tax has expired and it is unpaid, the 
Treasurer of State or of the county treasurer shall give notice thereof to the treasurer of any 
delinquent municipality, and unless such tax shall be is paid within 60 days, the Treasurer 
of State or of the county treasurer may issue his a warrant to the sheriff of the county, 
returnable in 90 days, requiring him the sheriff to levy by distress and sale upon the real 
and personal property of any of the inhabitants of the municipality. The sheriff or his the 
sheriff's deputy shall execute such warrants, observing the regulations provided for 
satisfying warrants against delinquent collectors prescribed by sections 803, 896 and 897.
Sec. B-6.  36 MRSA §943, 5th ¶, as amended by PL 1993, c. 422, §7, is further 
amended to read:
The municipal treasurer shall notify the party named on the tax lien mortgage and each 
record holder of a mortgage on the real estate not more than 45 days nor less than 30 days 
before the foreclosing date of the tax lien mortgage, in a writing signed by the treasurer or 
bearing the treasurer's facsimile signature and left at the holder's last and usual place of 
abode or sent by certified mail, return receipt requested, to the holder's last known address, 
of the impending automatic foreclosure and indicating the exact date of foreclosure.  For 
sending this notice, the municipality is entitled to receive $3 plus all certified mail, return 
receipt requested, fees.  These costs must be added to and become a part of the tax.  If 
notice is not given in the time period specified in this section to the party named on the tax 
lien mortgage or to any record holder of a mortgage, the person not receiving timely notice 
may redeem the tax lien mortgage until 30 days after the treasurer does provide notice in 
the manner specified in this section.
SUMMARY
Part A of this bill repeals a provision that authorizes the Department of Administrative 
and Financial Services, Maine Revenue Services to divulge certain taxpayer information to 
the Treasurer of State for the purpose of administering the Maine unclaimed or abandoned 
property law.  This information would often include federal tax information, which, under 
federal restrictions, may not be divulged.
Part B of the bill makes changes to the property tax laws.  Part B:
1.  Reduces the mandatory number of assessor certification exams Maine Revenue 
Services is required to hold from 4 to 2 per year;
2. Clarifies the amount of tax that must be paid when a taxpayer appeals a denial of 
abatement; and
3.  Makes technical changes, such as removing obsolete references to state property 
tax, gender-specific references and other obsolete language.