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Maine Attorney General Reports and Opinions 1 (2004)

handle is hein.sag/sagme0003 and id is 1 raw text is: ReoiONAL OMFCMs: 04 1 84 H-ARLOW ST., 2ND FLOOR BANGOR, MAINE 04401 G. STEVEN ROWE -EL: (207) 941-3070 ATTORNEY GENERAL e ( '4.307 44 OAK STREET 4TvH FLOOR PORTLAND. MAINE 04101-3014 TEL: (207) 822-0260 FAx: (207) 822-0259 Telephone: (207) 626-8600 STATE OF MAINE TOD: (877) 428-8800 TOO: (207) 626-8865 OFFICE OF THE ATrORNEY GENERAL 128 SWEDEN ST., ST. 2 CARIBOU, MAINE 04736 6 STATE HOUSE STATION TEL: (207) 496-3792 AUGUSTA, MAIE 04333-0006 FAx: (207) 496-3291 March 23, 2004 The Honorable Stephen Stanley, Senate Chair The Honorable David G. Lemoine, House Chair Members of the Joint Standing Committe on Taxation 12 1 Maine Legislature 3 State House Station Augusta, ME 04V3N30-E30 Dear Senator Stanley, Representative Lemoine, and Members of the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation: This letter responds to your request for a written opinion concerning certain legal issues presented by L.D. 1893, a citizen initiated bill entitled An Act to Impose Limits on Real and Personal Property Taxes. Given the time pressures on the Legislature, we have focused on the issues of major significance. Thus, this should not be read as an exhaustive analysis of the bill, which presents a number of interpretive as well as substantive problems. We have concluded that there is a substantial possibility that a court would find that key provisions of L.D. 1893 violate Article IX, § 8 of the Maine Constitution, and that such a finding would require the court to undertake a complex severability analysis. It is difficult to predict whether the remaining provisions could be given effect, and arguments can be made on each side of this issue given the specific severability provision in the bill. However, a court may well conclude that the lawful provisions are not severable because new language would have to be written into several sections of the bill for them to be both valid and effective, and a court would have little basis for determining whether the people would have voted for the initiative without the unconstitutional features. Finally, if the bill were found to create an exemption from property tax for a portion of each property's value, the requirement that the Legislature use state revenues to reimburse municipalities for 50% of the lost revenue would be triggered. Me. Const. Art. IV, Pt. 3, § 23. While, on balance, we do not think the valuation system created by the bill should be characterized as an exemption, the outcome of a legal challenge on this point is not certain. Printed on Recycled Pper

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