An Act to Increase Acreage Eligibility and Change Requirements for Filing Plans Under the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 1685
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: MATLACK, ZEIGLER
Amends: 36 MRSA §574-B, 36 MRSA §575-A, 36 MRSA §579, 36 MRSA §581, 36 MRSA §581-A

Legislative Document
No. 1685
H.P. 1084
House of Representatives, April 18, 2023
An Act to Increase Acreage Eligibility and Change Requirements 
for Filing Plans Under the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative MATLACK of St. George.
Cosponsored by Representative: ZEIGLER of Montville.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  36 MRSA §574-B, as amended by PL 2011, c. 618, §2, is further amended 
to read:
§574-B.  Applicability
An owner of a parcel containing forest land may apply at the landowner's election by 
filing with the assessor the schedule provided for in section 579, except that this subchapter 
does not apply to any parcel containing less than 10 acres of forest land for property tax 
years beginning on or before April 1, 2024 and containing less than 25 acres of forest land 
for property tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2025. For purposes of this subchapter, 
a parcel is deemed to include a unit of real estate, notwithstanding that it is divided by a 
road, way, railroad or pipeline, or by a municipal or county line.  The election to apply 
requires the written consent of all owners of an interest in a parcel except for the State.  For 
applications submitted on or after August 1, 2012, the size of the exclusion from 
classification under this subchapter for each structure located on the parcel and for each 
residential structure located on the parcel in shoreland areas is determined pursuant to 
section 574‑C.
A parcel of land used primarily for growth of trees to be harvested for commercial use 
is taxed according to this subchapter, as long as the landowner complies with the following 
requirements:
1.  Forest management and harvest plan.  A forest management and harvest plan 
must be prepared for each parcel and updated every 10 years.  The landowner shall file a 
copy of the plan and a sworn statement with the municipal assessor for a parcel in a 
municipality or with the State Tax Assessor for a parcel in the unorganized territory that a 
forest management and harvest plan has been prepared for the parcel;
2.  Evidence of compliance with plan.  The landowner must comply with the plan 
developed under subsection 1, and must submit, every 10 years to the municipal assessor 
in a municipality or the State Tax Assessor for parcels in the unorganized territory, a copy 
of the updated plan and a statement from a licensed professional forester that the landowner 
is managing the parcel according to schedules in the plan required under subsection 1;
3.  Transfer of ownership.  When land taxed under this subchapter is transferred to a 
new owner, within one year of the date of transfer, the new landowner must file with the 
municipal assessor in a municipality or the State Tax Assessor for land in the unorganized 
territory one of the following:
A.  A copy of any new forest management and harvest plan and a sworn statement 
indicating that a new forest management and harvest plan has been prepared; or
B.  A copy of the current forest management and harvest plan of the previous owner 
and a statement from a licensed professional forester that the land is being managed in 
accordance with the plan prepared for the previous landowner.
The new landowner may not harvest or authorize the harvest of forest products for 
commercial use until a statement the landowner complies with the filing provisions 
described in paragraph A or B is filed with the assessor.  A person owning timber rights on 
land taxed under this subchapter may not harvest or authorize the harvest of forest products 
for commercial use until a statement the landowner complies with the filing provisions 
described in paragraph A or B is filed with the assessor.
Parcels of land subject to section 573, subsection 3, paragraph B or C are exempt from the 
requirements under this subsection.
For the purposes of this subsection, "transferred to a new owner" means the transfer of the 
controlling interest in the fee ownership of the land or the controlling interest in the timber 
rights on the land; and
4.  Attestation.  Beginning August 1, 2012, when a landowner is required to provide 
to the assessor evidence that a forest management and harvest plan has been prepared for 
the parcel or updated pursuant to subsection 1, or when a landowner is required to provide 
evidence of compliance pursuant to subsection 2, the landowner must provide an attestation 
that the landowner's primary use for the forest land classified pursuant to this subchapter is 
to grow trees to be harvested for commercial use or that the forest land is land described in 
section 573, subsection 3, paragraphs A, B, C or E.  The existence of multiple uses on an 
enrolled parcel does not render it inapplicable for tax treatment under this subchapter, as 
long as the enrolled parcel remains primarily used for the growth of trees to be harvested 
for commercial use.; and
5.  Confidentiality.  A forest management and harvest plan provided in accordance 
with this section is confidential and is not a public record as defined in Title 1, section 402, 
subsection 3.
Sec. 2.  36 MRSA §575-A, as repealed and replaced by PL 2011, c. 619, §1 and 
amended by c. 657, Pt. W, §§5 and 7 and PL 2013, c. 405, Pt. A, §23, is amended to read:
§575-A.  Determining compliance with forest management and harvest plan
1.  Assistance to assessor.  Upon request of a municipal assessor or the State Tax 
Assessor and in accordance with section 579, the Director of the Bureau of Forestry within 
the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry may provide assistance in 
evaluating a forest management and harvest plan to determine whether the plan meets the 
definition of a forest management and harvest plan in section 573, subsection 3‑A. Upon 
request of a municipal assessor or the State Tax Assessor, the Director of the Bureau of 
Forestry may provide assistance in determining whether a harvest or other silvicultural 
activity conducted on land enrolled under this subchapter complies with the forest 
management and harvest plan prepared for that parcel of land. When assistance is requested 
under this section and section 579, the Director of the Bureau of Forestry or the director's 
designee may enter and examine forest land for the purpose of determining compliance 
with the forest management and harvest plan.  A request for assistance and evaluation must 
be completed within 6 months after the request.  Upon the completion of the evaluation and 
in consultation with the Director of the Bureau of Forestry, the municipal assessor or the 
State Tax Assessor may find the plan sufficient to meet the requirement of this subchapter 
or may find the plan insufficient to meet the requirement of this subchapter and commence 
the withdrawal procedure in section 581.
Sec. 3.  36 MRSA §579, 3rd ¶, as amended by PL 2003, c. 30, §1, PL 2011, c. 657, 
Pt. W, §§5 and 7 and PL 2013, c. 405, Pt. A, §23, is further amended to read:
The assessor or the assessor's duly authorized representative may enter and examine 
the forest lands under this subchapter and may examine any information submitted by the 
owner or owners.  A copy of the forest management and harvest plan required under section 
574‑B must be available to the assessor to review upon request and to the Director of the 
Bureau of Forestry within the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry or the 
director's designee to review upon request when the assessor seeks assistance in accordance 
with section 575‑A.  For the purposes of this paragraph, "to review" means to see or possess 
a copy of a plan for a reasonable amount of time to verify that the plan exists or to facilitate 
an evaluation as to whether the plan is appropriate and is being followed.  Upon completion 
of the review, the plan must be returned to the owner or an agent of the owner.  A forest 
management and harvest plan provided in accordance with this section is confidential and 
is not a public record as defined in Title 1, section 402, subsection 3.
Sec. 4.  36 MRSA §581, sub-§7-A is enacted to read:
7-A.  Notice of compliance.  A penalty may not be assessed upon the withdrawal of 
land from taxation under this subchapter in the property tax year following an increase in 
the minimum acreage limits established in section 574-B.
Sec. 5.  36 MRSA §581-A, as amended by PL 2001, c. 305, §1 and affected by §2, 
is further amended to read:
§581-A.  Sale of portion of parcel of forest land
Sale of a portion of a parcel of forest land subject to taxation under this subchapter does 
not affect the taxation under this subchapter of the resulting parcels, unless any is less than 
the number of forested acres in area is less than the minimum number of forested acres 
established in section 574-B.  Each resulting parcel must be taxed to the owners under this 
subchapter until the parcel is withdrawn from taxation under this subchapter, in which case 
the penalties provided for in sections 579 and 581 apply only to the owner of that parcel.  
If the forested acres in the area on a parcel resulting from that sale is less than 10 forested 
acres in area the minimum number of forested acres established in section 574-B, that 
parcel must be considered withdrawn from taxation under this subchapter as a result of the 
sale and the penalty assessed against the transferor of the resulting parcel of less than 10 
the minimum number of forested acres established in section 574-B.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the Maine Tree Growth Tax Law by increasing the acreage eligibility 
requirement from 10 to 25 acres of forested land beginning April 1, 2025.  The bill 
authorizes municipal assessors and the State Tax Assessor to retain copies of required forest 
management and harvest plans and with assistance from the Director of the Bureau of 
Forestry within the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry to determine the 
sufficiency of a plan to meet the requirements of the law.  Forest management and harvest 
plans retained by a municipal assessor or the State Tax Assessor are confidential and not 
public records.