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An Act To Clarify That the Department of Transportation Is Exempt from Property Assessment Liabilities When Acquiring Property by Condemnation
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 23 MRSA §161, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1971, c. 593, §22, is further amended to read:
 
1. Reimbursement.  When the department acquires real or personal property for transportation purposes, the department is not required to pay any taxes or assessments on that property. The department, as soon as practicable after the date of payment of just compensation, shall reimburse the owner from whom land or rights in land werethe property has been acquired for highwaytransportation purposes, to the extent the department deems fair and reasonable, for expenses suchthe owner necessarily incurred for:
 
A. Recording fees, transfer taxes and similar expenses, if any, incidental to conveying such property to the State;
 
B. Penalty costs for prepayment of any preexisting recorded mortgage entered into in good faith encumbering such real property; and
 
C. The pro rata portion of real or personal property taxes assessed or paid whichthat are allowable to a period subsequent to the date of vesting title in the State, or the effective date of possession of such real property by the State, whichever is earlierthe end of the municipal fiscal year during which the acquisition takes place. An owner from whom real or personal property has been acquired for transportation purposes is not liable for assessments or other tax liabilities covering a period during which that owner no longer owns the property.
 
SUMMARY
This bill clarifies that the Department of Transportation is not required to pay taxes or assessments on property it acquires for transportation purposes. The bill provides that the previous property owner is not liable for assessments or other tax liabilities on the condemned property for any period of time during which that owner no longer owns the property.