‘Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §4102, sub-§5, as amended by PL 2017, c. 474, Pt. G, §1, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §4119, as amended by PL 2019, c. 607, Pt. D, §5, is further amended to read:
§ 4119. Annual adjustments for inflation in 2018
Beginning in In 2018 and each year thereafter, on or about September 15th, for the estates of decedents who die during the succeeding calendar year, the assessor shall multiply the cost-of-living adjustment by the dollar amount contained in section 4102, subsection 5 applicable to estates of decedents dying on or after January 1, 2018 but before January 1, 2020. For the purposes of this section, the "cost-of-living adjustment" is the Chained Consumer Price Index for the 12-month period ending June 30th of the preceding calendar year divided by the Chained Consumer Price Index for the 12-month period ending June 30, 2017. If the dollar amount, adjusted by the application of the cost-of-living adjustment, is not a multiple of $10,000, any increase must be rounded to the nearest multiple of $10,000.
Sec. 3. 36 MRSA §4120 is enacted to read:
§ 4120. Additional exclusion amount for family farms, aquaculture, fishing and wood harvesting businesses
(1) All cultivating activities occurring at hatcheries or nurseries, from the egg, larval or spore stages to the transfer of the product to a growing site; and
(2) All cultivating activities occurring on water, from the receipt of fish, shellfish, seaweed or other marine plants from onshore facilities to the delivery of harvested products to onshore facilities for processing.
(1) New or used machinery and equipment for use directly and primarily in commercial agricultural production, including self-propelled vehicles; attachments and equipment for the production of field and orchard crops; new or used machinery and equipment for use directly and primarily in production of milk, maple syrup or honey, animal husbandry and production of livestock, including poultry; new or used machinery and equipment used in the removal and storage of manure; and new or used machinery and equipment not used directly and primarily in commercial agricultural production, but used to transport potatoes from a truck into a storage location;
(2) New or used watercraft, nets, traps, cables, tackle and related equipment necessary to and used directly and primarily in commercial fishing;
(3) New or used watercraft, machinery or equipment used directly and primarily for commercial aquacultural production, including, but not limited to: nets; ropes; cables; anchors and anchor weights; shackles and other hardware; buoys; fish tanks; fish totes; oxygen tanks; pumping systems; generators; water-heating systems; boilers and related pumping systems; diving equipment; feeders and related equipment; power-generating equipment; tank water-level sensors; aboveground piping; water-oxygenating systems; fish-grading equipment; safety equipment; and sea cage systems, including walkways and frames, lights, netting, buoys, shackles, ropes, cables, anchors and anchor weights; and
(4) New or used machinery and equipment for use directly and primarily in commercial wood harvesting, including, but not limited to, chain saws, skidders, delimbers, forwarders, slashers, feller bunchers and wood chippers.
"Depreciable machinery and equipment" does not include a motor vehicle as defined in section 1752, subsection 7 or a trailer as defined in section 1752, subsection 19-A.
(1) The land transferred must continue to meet the requirements for classification as farmland under chapter 105, subchapter 10, except that the gross income requirements of section 1102, subsection 4 must be met for every year of the 5 years following transfer; and
(2) The depreciable machinery and equipment transferred must continue to be used for commercial agricultural production, commercial aquacultural production, commercial fishing or commercial wood harvesting for every year of the 5 years following transfer.
A family member to whom farmland or depreciable machinery and equipment is transferred who wishes to claim the additional exclusion under this section shall file a report annually for the 5 years following the transfer with the assessor certifying that the farmland or depreciable machinery and equipment continues to qualify for the additional exclusion.
Sec. 4. Appropriations and allocations. The following appropriations and allocations are made.
ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL SERVICES, DEPARTMENT OF
Revenue Services, Bureau of 0002
Initiative: Provides funding for one Tax Section Manager position, one Senior Tax Examiner position, 3 Tax Examiner positions and related costs to process and audit additional estate tax returns.
| GENERAL FUND | 2019-20 | 2020-21 |
|
POSITIONS - LEGISLATIVE COUNT
|
0.000 | 5.000 |
|
Personal Services
|
$0 | $269,697 |
|
All Other
|
$0 | $30,169 |
 |
|
|
| GENERAL FUND TOTAL | $0 | $299,866 |