LD 1590
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LD 1590 Title Page RESOLUTION, Proposing an Amendment to the Constitution of Maine to Allow Landow... Page 2 of 2
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LR 1825
Item 1

 
Constitutional amendment. Resolved: Two thirds of each branch of the
Legislature concurring, that the following amendment to the
Constitution of Maine be proposed:

 
Constitution, Art. IX, §8, sub-§2 is amended to read:

 
2. Assessment of certain lands based on current use; penalty
on change to higher use. The Legislature shall have power to
provide for the assessment of the following types of real estate
whenever situated in accordance with a valuation based upon the
current use thereof and in accordance with such conditions as the
Legislature may enact:

 
A. Farms and agricultural lands, timberlands and woodlands;

 
B. Open space lands which are used for recreation or the
enjoyment of scenic natural beauty; and

 
C. Lands used for game management or wildlife sanctuaries.

 
In implementing paragraphs A, B and C, the Legislature shall
provide that any change of use higher than those set forth in
paragraphs A, B and C, except when the change is occasioned by a
transfer resulting from the exercise or threatened exercise of
the power of eminent domain, shall result in the imposition of a
minimum penalty equal to the tax which would have been imposed
over the 5 years preceding that change of use had that real
estate been assessed at its highest and best use, less all taxes
paid on that real estate over the preceding 5 years, and
interest, upon such reasonable and equitable basis as the
Legislature shall determine; except that if the use of real
estate that is assessed based on current use pursuant to this
subsection is substantively affected, as a result of the passage
of a referendum or the enactment of legislation, through the
imposition of conditions for continued enrollment, the landowner
may, within one year of the imposition of such conditions of
continued enrollment, withdraw the land without penalty from the
current use program. Any statutory or constitutional penalty
imposed as a result of a change of use, whether imposed before or
after the approval of this subsection, shall be determined
without regard to the presence of minerals, provided that, when
payment of the penalty is made or demanded, whichever occurs
first, there is in effect a state excise tax which applies or
would apply to the mining of those minerals.

 
; and be it
further

 
Constitutional referendum procedure; form of question; effective date. Resolved:
That the municipal officers of this State shall notify the
inhabitants of their respective cities,


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