Maine Revised Statutes
Chapter 371: MINING EXCISE TAX
36 §2861. Municipal reimbursement

§2861. Municipal reimbursement
1. Reimbursement. Excise tax revenues shall be used first to reimburse municipalities for the tax exemptions established by this chapter.
[PL 1981, c. 711, §10 (NEW).]
2. Treasurer's duties. The Treasurer of State shall reimburse each municipality at least 50% and, if revenues from the Mining Excise Tax are available, up to 100% of the property tax revenue loss suffered by that municipality during the previous calendar year as a result of the exemptions established by this chapter.
[PL 1991, c. 883, §3 (AMD).]
3. Determination of amount. The property tax revenue loss shall be determined as follows.
A. The State Tax Assessor shall make the following determinations:
(1) The total amount of property taxes levied by the municipality in the previous calendar year;
(2) The municipal valuation which resulted in subparagraph (1); and
(3) The valuation of the property which is exempt as a result of this chapter. [PL 1981, c. 711, §10 (NEW).]
B. The valuation of property which is exempt as a result of this chapter, shall be the total valuation of that property reduced by the valuation of that property which would be determined to be exempt under this Title as this Title existed on the day before the effective date of this Act. [PL 1981, c. 711, §10 (NEW).]
C. The State Tax Assessor shall add the valuation as determined in paragraph A, subparagraph (2), to the valuation as determined in paragraph A, subparagraph (3), and divide the sum into the figure determined in paragraph A, subparagraph (1). [PL 1981, c. 711, §10 (NEW).]
D. The State Tax Assessor shall apply the rate calculated in paragraph C to the valuation of the exempt property to determine the amount of potential tax revenue loss. [PL 1981, c. 711, §10 (NEW).]
E. The State Tax Assessor shall reduce the amount from paragraph D to reflect the additional school support provided by the State because of the change in valuation under paragraph B, which figure shall be the actual tax revenue loss. [PL 1981, c. 711, §10 (NEW).]
[PL 1981, c. 711, §10 (NEW).]
4. Payment. The Treasurer of State shall use the excise tax revenues to pay to each municipality at least 50% and, if revenues are available, up to 100% of the actual tax revenue loss as determined by subsection 3, paragraph E. The Treasurer of State shall set aside an amount from these revenues sufficient to meet this obligation. The Treasurer of State shall pay the money due to the municipality by February 1st of the year following the year in which property tax revenue was lost by the municipality.
[PL 1991, c. 883, §3 (AMD).]
5. Unorganized territory. The unorganized territory shall be entitled to reimbursement under this section in the same manner provided by this section for municipalities. The amount of reimbursement due shall be paid into the Unorganized Territory Education and Services Fund established in chapter 115.
[PL 1985, c. 459, Pt. B, §5 (NEW).]
6. Oversight. The Treasurer of State, following the payment of excise tax revenues to municipalities pursuant to subsection 4, shall annually set aside 25% of the remaining revenues from mining operations to be deposited in the Mining Oversight Fund. Money in this fund is available to fund oversight of mining activity as defined by rule by the Department of Environmental Protection in relation to metallic mineral exploration.
[PL 2011, c. 653, §4 (AMD); PL 2011, c. 653, §33 (AFF).]
SECTION HISTORY
PL 1981, c. 711, §10 (NEW). PL 1985, c. 459, §B5 (AMD). PL 1991, c. 883, §§3,4 (AMD). PL 2011, c. 653, §4 (AMD). PL 2011, c. 653, §33 (AFF). PL 2011, c. 682, §38 (REV).