An Act Regarding the Timeline for Property Tax Abatement Based on Hardship or Poverty
Maine Legislature, Session 131, LD 2111
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: TIMBERLAKE
Amends: 36 MRSA §841

Legislative Document
No. 2111
S.P. 904
In Senate, January 3, 2024
An Act Regarding the Timeline for Property Tax Abatement Based 
on Hardship or Poverty
Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council pursuant to Joint Rule 
203.
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator TIMBERLAKE of Androscoggin.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  36 MRSA §841, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2017, c. 367, §7, is further 
amended by amending the first blocked paragraph to read:
The municipal officers, either upon written application filed after one year but within 3 
years from commitment, except as provided in subsection 2, stating the grounds for an 
abatement or on their own initiative within that time period, may make such reasonable 
abatement as they consider proper to correct any illegality, error or irregularity in 
assessment if the taxpayer has complied with section 706‑A.  The municipal officers may 
not grant an abatement to correct an error in the valuation of property.
Sec. 2.  36 MRSA §841, sub-§2, as amended by PL 2017, c. 273, §1, is further 
amended to read:
2.  Hardship or poverty.  The municipal officers, or the State Tax Assessor for the 
unorganized territory, within 3 years 18 months from commitment, may, on their own 
knowledge or on written application, make such abatements as they believe reasonable on 
the real and personal taxes on the primary residence of any person who, by reason of 
hardship or poverty, is in their judgment unable to contribute to the public charges.  The 
municipal officers, or the State Tax Assessor for the unorganized territory, may extend the 
3-year 18-month period within which they may make abatements under this subsection.
As used in this subsection, "primary residence" means the home, appurtenant structures 
necessary to support the home and acreage sufficient to satisfy the minimum lot size as 
required by the municipality's land use or building permit ordinance or regulations or, in 
the absence of any municipal minimum lot size requirement, as required by Title 12, section 
4807‑A.
Municipal officers or the State Tax Assessor for the unorganized territory shall:
A.  Provide that any person indicating an inability to pay all or part of taxes that have 
been assessed because of hardship or poverty be informed of the right to make 
application under this subsection;
B.  Assist individuals in making application for abatement;
C.  Make available application forms for requesting an abatement based on hardship or 
poverty and provide that those forms contain notice that a written decision will be made 
within 30 days of the date of application;
D.  Provide that persons are given the opportunity to apply for an abatement during 
normal business hours;
E.  Provide that all applications, information submitted in support of the application, 
files and communications relating to an application for abatement and the 
determination on the application for abatement are confidential.  Hearings and 
proceedings held pursuant to this subsection must be in executive session;
F.  Provide to any person applying for abatement under this subsection, notice in 
writing of their decision within 30 days of application; and
G.  Provide that any decision made under this subsection include the specific reason or 
reasons for the decision and inform the applicant of the right to appeal and the 
procedure for requesting an appeal.
Sec. 3.  Application. This Act applies to property tax years beginning on or after 
April 1, 2024.
SUMMARY
This bill aligns the deadline for filing an application for property tax abatement based 
on hardship or poverty, which may be filed up to 3 years from the date of commitment, 
with the timeline of the foreclosure process, in which liens automatically foreclose 18 
months from the date of filing.