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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST SPECIAL SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 1481H.P. 973 House of Representatives, April 3, 2025
An Act to Amend the Law Governing Stabilization of Property
Taxes on Homesteads of Individuals 65 Years of Age or Older
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative PARRY of Arundel. Page 1 - 132LR0323(01)
1
2 as enacted by PL 2023, c. 412, Pt. S, §10, is
3 amended to read:
4 This chapter applies only to the property tax year beginning April 1, 2023 and to
5 property tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2025.
6 as amended by PL 2023, c. 441, Pt. D, §1,
7 is further amended to read:
8 B. "Eligible individual" means an individual who, on April 1 1st of the property tax
9 year for which the individual is requesting stabilization:
10 (1) Is 65 years of age or older; and
11 (2) Is a permanent resident of the State as defined in section 681, subsection 4 and
12 has owned a homestead in the State for at least 10 20 years.; and
13 (3) Has federal adjusted gross income not exceeding $75,000.
14 as enacted by PL 2021, c. 751, §1, is amended to
15 read:
16 An individual may apply by
17 December 1st to the municipality in which the individual's homestead is located requesting
18 that the municipality stabilize the property tax assessed on that individual's homestead for
19 the property tax year beginning on April 1st following the submission of the application.
20 A new application is required for each year for which stabilization is requested. If an
21 individual whose property tax is stabilized for a homestead pursuant to this chapter wants
22 the stabilization to continue, that individual shall file, for each subsequent property tax year
23 for which a continuation is desired, a request, in writing, indicating that the homestead is
24 still an eligible homestead.
25 as enacted by PL 2021, c. 751, §1, is amended to
26 read:
27
28 under this section and establishes a new homestead in the State, the individual continues to
29 be eligible for stabilization. If an eligible individual establishes a new homestead in a
30 different municipality, at the request of the eligible individual, the municipality where
31 eligibility was first established shall notify the new municipality of the eligible individual's
32 previous eligibility and the amount at which the property taxes were stabilized. The the
33 new municipality shall bill the eligible individual at the stabilized amount stabilize the
34 property tax assessed on that individual's homestead for the property tax year beginning on
35 April 1st following the establishment of the new homestead, and the new municipality is
36 eligible for state compensation under subsection 5.
37
38 April 1, 2025.
39
40 This bill amends the property tax stabilization program for senior citizens to make the
41 following changes.
40
41 Page 2 - 132LR0323(01)
1 1. It extends the program to property tax years beginning on or after April 1, 2025.
2 2. It changes the eligibility requirements to require an individual to have been a
3 permanent Maine resident for at least 20 years and have a household income of no more
4 than $75,000 of federal adjusted gross income.
5 3. It simplifies the renewal of stabilization requirements, retaining the requirement in
6 current law that a request for stabilization be done annually, but requiring only that it be a
7 written statement that the household is still eligible under the program for stabilization.
8 4. It removes the ability of an individual who moves from one municipality to another
9 to retain the same stabilized property taxes assessed on the old property. Instead, the
10 individual's stabilized amount will be determined as of the date the individual moves to the
11 new homestead.