| | | Emergency preamble. Whereas, Acts of the Legislature do not become | | effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as | | emergencies; and |
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| | | Whereas, the value of property within a municipality has a | | strong effect on the calculation of school appropriations and | | state-municipal revenue sharing; and |
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| | | Whereas, the City of Westbrook derives a large portion of its | | tax valuation from the presence of the former S.D. Warren plant, | | now owned by Sappi Fine Paper North America; and |
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| | | Whereas, after a major reduction in plant operations last year | | that reduced the value of the property and allowed an adjustment | | in the City of Westbrook's state valuation, the owner of the | | property announced further downsizing of the facility that has | | resulted in the value of property dropping by as much as | | $85,000,000; and |
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| | | Whereas, unless immediate action is taken to account for this | | decrease in valuation, the City of Westbrook will suffer from the | | loss of significant revenues based on the decreased valuation of | | the Sappi Fine Paper North America plant; and |
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| | | Whereas, the loss of these revenues will be most felt by the | | city's schools and school children; and |
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| | | Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create | | an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and | | require the following legislation as immediately necessary for | | the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, | | therefore, |
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| | | Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: |
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| | | Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §208-A, sub-§6 is enacted to read: |
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| | | 6.__Continuing disruption.__Notwithstanding any other | | provision of this section, if a municipality has received an | | adjustment in its valuation due to closure, removal, replacement, | | retrofit, obsolescence, disaster or abatement attributable to a | | single taxpayer and, if the cause for the adjustment is an | | ongoing situation that has caused a further reduction in the | | valuation of the property of the taxpayer subsequent to the | | adjustment, the State Tax Assessor shall, within a reasonable | | time after a request by the municipality, calculate an adjusted | | state valuation for the municipality by reducing the municipal | | valuation by the amount of the further reduction in the value of |
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