18- 125 C.M.R. ch. 901, § .04

Current through 2024-21, May 22, 2024
Section 125-901-.04 - Property Taxes Accrued
A. Definition."Property taxes accrued" means property taxes exclusive of special assessment, delinquent interest, and charges for service levied on a claimant's homestead in this State as of April 1 of the claim year. "Property taxes accrued" means only the portion of property taxes levied that was not abated for infirmity or poverty during the year for which the claimant requests relief. If a claimant owns and occupies two (2) or more different homesteads in Maine in the same calendar year, property taxes accrued means the total of the property taxes owed for the time that each property was occupied by the claimant and claimant's household as a homestead. To calculate the amount attributable to each property, the April 1 assessment on each homestead is multiplied by the percentage of 12 months that each property was owned and occupied by the claimant as the claimant's homestead during the year for which relief is requested. When a municipality changes the dates of its fiscal year (for example, from January 1-December 31 to July 1-June 30) and assesses an eighteen-month tax amount, the property taxes accrued will be the eighteen-month amount based on the April 1 assessment for that claim year, even if the municipality issues two separate tax bills spaced several months apart.
B.Exemptions. If the claimant has an exemption for part of the valuation of the property, such as a veteran's exemption or a homestead exemption for part of the valuation of the property and the homestead is part of a larger unit, the amount of the exemption must be subtracted from the valuation of the house and house lot.
C.Multiple owners.Generally, a claimant who occupies a homestead that is owned by several persons, one of whom is the claimant, must base the claim on his or her pro rata share of the property tax assessed on the homestead. For example, if a homestead is owned by three persons and one of those persons occupies it, that person is the claimant and can claim one-third of the total tax. The others cannot file a claim based on that homestead because they live elsewhere. If, however, the claimant is solely responsible for the payment of the tax under the terms of a written agreement with all the other owners that states the claimant is allowed to occupy the homestead, he or she can base the claim on the total tax.
D.Part of a larger unit.If a homestead is an integral part of a larger parcel of property, such as a farm or multipurpose or multi-dwelling building, the property taxes accrued for the homestead equal a percentage of the total property taxes that represent the percentage of the homestead's value to the total value of the larger unit.

18- 125 C.M.R. ch. 901, § .04