Amend the bill by striking out everything after the enacting clause and before the summary and inserting the following:
‘Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §508, sub-§1, as enacted by PL 2007, c. 627, §12, is repealed and the following enacted in its place:
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §508, sub-§1-A is enacted to read:
Sec. 3. Preexisting ordinances not invalidated. This Act does not void or otherwise invalidate any municipal ordinance adopted before the effective date of this Act pursuant to the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 36, section 508 or former section 652, subsection 1, paragraph L.’
summary
This amendment, which is the minority report of the committee, provides that a municipality may impose service charges on property that is exempt from taxation because it is owned or used by entities in the following categories: benevolent and charitable institutions; literary and scientific institutions; chambers of commerce and boards of trade; fraternal organizations operating under a lodge system; and property jointly owned or used by those entities. Service charges may not be imposed on property exempt as a house of worship or parsonage or a veterans organization.
Service charges must meet the following conditions:
1. The property must be owned by an entity that owns exempt property in the municipality that would have a total assessed value of at least $1,000,000 if assessed for property tax purposes and the property must be owned by, rented to or otherwise occupied by a person or entity that provides any employee or independent contractor engaged to provide professional management services with compensation, exclusive of health benefits, in excess of 4 times the median household income for the county in which the property is located;
2. The municipality must adopt an ordinance imposing service charges approved by the voters through a referendum process;
3. The municipality may not impose a service charge on individual properties without imposing service charges on all other property in that municipality that is within the same category of exempt property;
4. The calculation of service charges imposed by municipalities must be based on the square footage of building space that is exempt from taxation unless the municipality determines that a different measure more accurately represents the cost of services for which the service charges are imposed; and
5. Service charges must be reduced by any payments made or services provided to the municipality by the exempt entity in lieu of taxes.
The amendment provides that municipal ordinances adopted before the effective date of the legislation remain valid even if they do not comply with the new requirements. The amendment retains the requirement in current law that service charges may not exceed 2% of the entity's gross annual revenue.