Now that April has begun, it is timely to offer some information regarding what is meant by Maine Law, M.R.S.A. Title 36, Section 502: property taxable; tax year.
All real estate within the state, all personal property of residents of the state, and all personal property within the state of persons not residents of the state, is subject to taxation on the first day of each April as provided; and the status of all taxpayers and of such taxable property must be fixed as of that date.
This Maine law is the marching orders for assessors to prepare a commitment of assessed values each year for every piece of land, every building and every piece of business equipment located within the bounds of the municipality they are employed in, based on the person in possession on April 1 each year.
In order to fulfill this obligation assessors use a multitude of tools to perform these tasks on the various types of properties.
Land ownership is always determined by deeds that have been recorded in the County Registry. Every parcel is assessed to the person named on the most current recorded deed or the heirs of that person. The municipalities receive a copy of every deed recorded in the registry each month and change ownership records based on the recording date of those deeds. The owner on April 1 is who the city’s assessment is applied to, when the commitment is created.
Building ownership may transfer with the land, or buildings may be sold without the land they are on, by bill of sale. Each year assessors are required to determine who owns all the mobile homes and other buildings that are located on leased land as of April 1. We ask that each person who has purchased or sold a building to provide to the assessing office a copy of the bill of sale so that the assessment for the building is to the proper person in the commitment. Assessors also receive copies of all building permits, certificates of occupancy, and mortgages to aid in ownership determinations.
Personal property ownership and assessments are based on declaration lists provided by the taxpayer. Each year, usually around March 15, the assessors send out requests to business owners requesting that a full and complete list of personal property owned as of April 1 be provided to the assessor. Section 706 of M.R.S.A. Title 36 obligates the taxpayer to provide such a list, or be barred from their right to appeal the assessor’s estimate.
When the list is returned, values are placed on the assets using one of three methods. Preferred is cost new less depreciation for age. If cost new is unknown, we use replacement cost new, less depreciation. In certain other cases where cost new and replacement cost are not available, we use sound value, which is the amount an item would sell for today. Personal property subject to assessment includes all types of machinery, equipment, tools, utensils, computers, software, displays, signage, furniture, art, and any other tangible materials used commercially. It can be said that personal property subject to assessment is anything owned or used by a commercial entity that is not assessed as real estate.
The cost of operating the City is placed upon the citizens, as we are all in this together. At commitment time, the more value we assess, the lower the mill rate ends up being, which leads to the billing amount for each taxpayer. Our number-one job in the Assessing Department is to ensure that each person subject to an assessment is treated fairly, and we achieve that goal by discovering all property and assessing it at market value.
The Assessing Department is committed to ensuring that all taxpaying residents are aware of and receiving any tax relief available through the Homestead and Veterans exemptions, and that all businesses are aware of and receiving any tax relief available through the BETR and BETE programs.
As always, we encourage all taxpayers to contact the department with any questions or concerns you may have regarding the assessment of property here in the city, and also visit our webpage and GIS system to view any property or assessment record in the city: http://presqueislemaine.gov/.
Wishing everyone a fantastic spring and summer.
Lewis Cousins is Presque Isle’s assessor. He can be reached at 760-2714 or via email at lcousins@presqueisleme.us.
