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An Act To Improve Access to Property Tax Exemptions for New Homeowners
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 36 MRSA §681, sub-§5, ¶¶A and B, as enacted by PL 2005, c. 647, §3 and affected by §5, are amended to read:
 
A.  Shareholder in a cooperative housing corporation that owns a homestead in this State; and
 
B.   Shareholder for the preceding 12 months in the cooperative housing corporation specified in paragraph A; and
Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §683, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2017, c. 478, §1, is further amended to read:
 
1. Exemption amount.   Except for assessments for special benefits, the just value of $10,000 of the homestead of a permanent resident of this State who has owned a homestead in this State for the preceding 12 months is exempt from taxation. Notwithstanding this subsection, a permanent resident of this State who loses ownership of a homestead in this State due to a tax lien foreclosure and subsequently regains ownership of the homestead from the municipality that foreclosed on the tax lien is deemed to have continuously owned the homestead and may not be determined ineligible for the exemption provided in this section due to the ownership of the homestead by the municipality. In determining the local assessed value of the exemption, the assessor shall multiply the amount of the exemption by the ratio of current just value upon which the assessment is based as furnished in the assessor's annual return pursuant to section 383. If the title to the homestead is held by the applicant jointly or in common with others, the exemption may not exceed $10,000 of the just value of the homestead, but may be apportioned among the owners who reside on the property to the extent of their respective interests. A municipality responsible for administering the homestead exemption has no obligation to create separate accounts for each partial interest in a homestead owned jointly or in common.
 
SUMMARY
This bill provides that a permanent resident of the State who owns a homestead in the State does not need to own the homestead for the preceding 12 months in order to qualify for the Maine resident homestead property tax exemption.