An Act to Eliminate Senior Citizen Property Tax Stabilization and Expand the Homestead Property Tax Exemption
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 0130
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: BENNETT
Amends: 36 MRSA §683, 36 MRSA §6281

Legislative Document
No. 130
S.P. 69
In Senate, January 10, 2023
An Act to Eliminate Senior Citizen Property Tax Stabilization and 
Expand the Homestead Property Tax Exemption
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BENNETT of Oxford.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  36 MRSA §683, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2017, c. 478, §1, is further 
amended to read:
1.  Exemption amount.  Except as provided in subsection 1-C and except for 
assessments for special benefits, the just value of $10,000 of the homestead of a permanent 
resident of this State who has owned a homestead in this State for the preceding 12 months 
is exempt from taxation.  Notwithstanding this subsection, a permanent resident of this 
State who loses ownership of a homestead in this State due to a tax lien foreclosure and 
subsequently regains ownership of the homestead from the municipality that foreclosed on 
the tax lien is deemed to have continuously owned the homestead and may not be 
determined ineligible for the exemption provided in this section due to the ownership of 
the homestead by the municipality.  In determining the local assessed value of the 
exemption, the assessor shall multiply the amount of the exemption by the ratio of current 
just value upon which the assessment is based as furnished in the assessor's annual return 
pursuant to section 383.  If the title to the homestead is held by the applicant jointly or in 
common with others, the exemption may not exceed $10,000 of the just value of the 
homestead, but may be apportioned among the owners who reside on the property to the 
extent of their respective interests.  A municipality responsible for administering the 
homestead exemption has no obligation to create separate accounts for each partial interest 
in a homestead owned jointly or in common.
Sec. 2.  36 MRSA §683, sub-§1-C is enacted to read:
1-C.  Exemption amount for persons over 65 years of age.  Notwithstanding 
subsections 1 and 1-B, for property tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2024, the 
exemption amount for a homestead of a permanent resident of this State who is 65 years of 
age or older and who has resided in the homestead for at least the preceding 10 years is the 
just value of $75,000.
Sec. 3.  36 MRSA §6281, as enacted by PL 2021, c. 751, §1, is amended by enacting 
at the end a new paragraph to read:
This chapter applies only to the property tax year beginning April 1, 2023.
SUMMARY
This bill provides that the law enacted in 2022 providing a process for stabilization of 
property taxes for permanent residents of this State who are 65 years of age or older and 
have owned a homestead in the State for at least 10 years applies only to the property tax 
year beginning April 1, 2023. For property tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2024, 
the bill replaces the stabilization program with  an increased homestead property tax 
exemption of $75,000 just value.