State Treasurer Henry Beck Notifies Tax Assessors of a Property Tax Relief Payment
Office of the State Treasurer will send $100 relief payments to all who qualified in 2019 for the Homestead Exemption.
Augusta, ME - State Treasurer Henry E.M. Beck, Esq. today announced that he has officially notified Municipal Tax Assessors of a new law affecting Maine municipalities. "An Act to Return Funds to Maine Property Taxpayers" requires the Maine Office of the State Treasurer (OST) to provide tax relief payments of no less than $100 to qualifying homesteads, when the Property Tax Relief Fund reaches a threshold of funding to support the payments. In 2019, this threshold will be met based on available funds divided by the number of homesteads net of expenses to administer the program.
The Treasurer has directed all of Maine's Municipal Tax Assessors and the State Tax Assessor to provide the names and addresses of all property tax payers who qualified for the homestead exemption as of April 1, 2019. OST expects that approximately 305,000 property tax payers will receive a payment.
The State Treasurer is anticipating a payment of approximately $102 to be mailed to qualified Mainers in the months of January and February. Beck noted that "Maine people made clear they want property tax relief. Speaker Gideon's bipartisan legislation will provide over $30 million in direct relief to Maine homeowners. Combined with Governor Mills' budget to dramatically increase revenue sharing and also raise the homestead exemption, this meaningful program delivers on real property tax relief for Maine people."
For more information on the program and how the payments will be sent, please visit https://www.maine.gov/treasurer/propertytaxrelief/index.html
About OST: The Office of the State Treasurer provides state agencies with efficient banking and financial services, which include revenue collection, payment issuance, reconciliation, and trust management. The Office also manages state investments and debt payments and issuance, ensuring that bonds authorized by voters are efficiently sold in the marketplace to provide funding for capital projects statewide. Over $200 million in unclaimed funds for Maine residents are managed by the Office of the Treasurer. FMI, www.maine.gov/treasurer
About the Homestead exemption program: This program provides a measure of property tax relief for certain individuals that have owned homestead property in Maine for at least 12 months and make the property they occupy on April 1 their permanent residence. Property owners would receive an exemption of $20,000. FMI, https://www.maine.gov/revenue/propertytax/sidebar/exemptions.htm