Sec. 4. 25 MRSA §2399, 2nd ¶, as amended by PL 1997, c. 728, §22, is further amended to read:

Every fire insurance company or association that does business or collects premiums or assessments in the State shall pay to the State Tax Assessor, in addition to the taxes now imposed by law to be paid by those companies or associations, 1.4% 1.9% of the gross direct premiums for fire risks written in the State, less the amount of all direct return premiums thereon and all dividends paid to policyholders on direct fire premiums. That tax must be paid as provided for insurance premium taxes as specified in Title 36, section 2521-A, except that the tax prescribed by this section must be paid on an estimated basis at the end of each month starting July 31, 1998, with each installment equal to at least 1/12 of the estimated total tax to be paid for the current calendar year. The State Tax Assessor shall pay over all receipts from that tax to the Treasurer of State daily. Of these funds 75.7% must be used to defray the expenses incurred by the Commissioner of Public Safety in administering all fire preventive and investigative laws and rules and in educating the public in fire safety and is appropriated for those purposes and to carry out the administration and duties of the Office of the State Fire Marshal. Of these funds 24.3% must be used to defray the expenses of the fire training and education program as established in Title 20-A, chapter 319.

Sec. 5. 25 MRSA §2476, sub-§3, as enacted by PL 1999, c. 652, §9, is amended to read:

3. Inspection of storage magazines and vehicles used to transport explosives. All storage magazines and vehicles used to transport explosives in intrastate commerce must be inspected prior to issuance of a permit. The commissioner shall establish by rule the cost of each inspection is $30. Rules adopted pursuant to this section are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter II-A.__The fees established under this subsection may not exceed the actual cost to the Department of Public Safety to conduct these inspections. Reinspection of storage magazines and vehicles used to transport explosives must be conducted upon renewal of a permit.

SUMMARY

This bill increases from 1.4% to 1.9% the fire investigation and prevention tax. The revenues derived from the tax increase will be used to support increased operations expenses in the Office of the State Fire Marshal within the Office of Public Safety and to fund the increased operational expenses to carry out the goals and objectives of the 1999 strategic plan of Maine Fire Training and Education Program within the Maine Technical College System.

This bill removes provisions that establish in law the fees for certain inspections conducted by the Office of State Fire Marshal within the Department of Public Safety. The bill directs the Commissioner of Public Safety to set these fees by rulemaking and designates the rules as routine technical rules. The bill prohibits the department from setting the fees higher than the actual cost of conducting the inspections.