Chapter 541
H.P. 670 - L.D. 885
PART B
Sec. B-1. 12 MRSA §685-D,  as amended by PL 1999, c. 333, §18, is repealed.
Sec. B-2. 12 MRSA §685-E,  as amended by PL 2005, c. 386, Pt. I, §2, is repealed.
Sec. B-3. 12 MRSA §685-F, sub-§1, ¶B,  as enacted by PL 2005, c. 107, §2 and as affected by §4, is amended to read:
B. Require the commission to incur costs that exceed the funding provided in accordance with section 685-D 685-G.
Sec. B-4. 12 MRSA §685-G  is enacted to read:
1. Unorganized territories.
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Beginning with fiscal year 2009-10, funding for services and activities of the commission for planning, permitting and ensuring compliance in the unorganized territories must be assessed and allocated to the unorganized territories through a fee equal to .013% of the most recent equalized state valuation established by the State Tax Assessor. This fee must be collected through the municipal cost component under Title 36, chapter 115.
2. Towns and plantations.
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Beginning with fiscal year 2009-10, a town or a plantation in the commission's jurisdiction that elects not to administer land use controls at the local level but receives commission services or a town or plantation with a portion of its land under the commission's jurisdiction and receiving commission services, including planning, permitting and ensuring compliance, must be assessed a fee equal to .015% of the most recent equalized state valuation established by the State Tax Assessor for that town or plantation or that portion of a town or plantation under the commission's jurisdiction. The State Tax Assessor shall issue a warrant to each such town or plantation no later than March 1st of each year. The warrant is payable on demand. Interest charges on unpaid fees begin on June 30th of each year and are compounded monthly at the interest rate for unpaid property tax as established by the State Tax Assessor for the unorganized territory. For any assessment that remains unpaid as of September 1st of the year in which it is due, state revenue sharing to that town or plantation must be reduced by an amount equal to any unpaid warrant amount plus any accrued interest, until the amount is paid. These fees must be deposited to the General Fund.
3. Report.
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By January 15, 2009 and annually thereafter, the commission shall report to the joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over conservation matters and taxation matters regarding commission funding and other financial matters. The report must cover the 5 previous fiscal years and must identify General Fund appropriations and other resources, amounts assessed and collected from the assessments required under this section and former section 685-E and amounts assessed and collected from other fees and penalties assessed under this chapter. The joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over conservation matters and taxation matters shall jointly review the distribution of funding and other assessments among the General Fund, unorganized territories and towns and plantations under the commission's jurisdiction and may submit legislation considered necessary as a result of the commission's report to the First Regular Session of the 124th Legislature.
Sec. B-5. Report. By January 15, 2009, the Maine Land Use Regulation Commission shall report to the joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over conservation matters and taxation matters making recommendations, including legislation if necessary, to enforce payment of the assessments required under the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, section 685-G, subsection 2. The joint standing committees of the Legislature having jurisdiction over conservation matters and taxation matters shall jointly review the recommendations and may submit legislation considered necessary as a result of the commission’s report to the First Regular Session of the 124th Legislature.
Sec. B-6. Effective date. Those sections of this Part that repeal the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 12, sections 685-D and 685-E and amend section 685-F, subsection 1, paragraph B take effect June 30, 2009.