Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §662 is enacted to read:

§662.__Certain business personal property

1.__Definitions.__As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings.

A.__"Base General Fund revenue" means General Fund revenue for the previous fiscal year adjusted by the increase in the Consumer Price Index as defined in section 5402, subsection 1 for the previous calendar year.

B.__"Projected General Fund revenue" means the amount of projected General Fund revenue for the current fiscal year determined by the December 1st report of the Revenue Forecasting Committee under Title 5, section 1710-F, subsection 3.

2.__Exempt property.__An exemption is provided under this Part for a percentage of the just value of property that qualifies for reimbursement under chapter 915.__Except as provided in subsection 5, the exempt percentage of just value is 25% for property tax years beginning on April 1, 2004, 50% of just value for property tax years beginning on April 1, 2005, 75% of just value for property tax years beginning on April 1, 2006 and 100% of just value for property tax years beginning after April 1, 2007.

3.__Reimbursement to municipalities.__The State shall reimburse municipalities for 100% of the property tax revenue loss suffered as a result of this section using the procedure specified in section 661.

4.__Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement Exemption Fund.__ The Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement Exemption Fund, referred to in this section as "the fund," is established for the purposes of this section.__Beginning December 15, 2003 and annually thereafter, the State Controller shall transfer to the fund an amount determined by subtracting the base General Fund revenue from the projected General Fund revenue for the fiscal year.__Money in the fund does not lapse but is carried forward for the purposes of this section.

5.__Exempt percentage.__Before March 15th annually, the State Tax Assessor shall estimate the amount that will be transferred to the fund during the succeeding year.__If the amount estimated is not sufficient to fund reimbursement of the