Letter to Homeowners from the Fire Chief of the City of Biddeford
Dear Homeowner,
We are asking for your assistance in helping us to correct a major problem in the city and to meet the city ordinance.
Your help will enable us to assist you in a timely manner in case of an emergency.
We are requesting that all buildings have a number on them and located in a position to be plainly legible and visible from the street or road fronting the property. These numbers shall contrast with their background. Address numbers shall be Arabic numerals or alphabet letters. Numbers shall be a minimum of 4 inches high and with a minimum stroke width of 0.5 inch.
If you have a P.O. Box number on your mailbox, check with the Post Office to see if there would be a problem with putting a street address on the box, or have both numbers on the box with your name.
In an EMERGENCY (rescue, fire or police calls) valuable time is lost looking for the house numbers.
This will also help mail deliveries, utility companies and other deliveries to your home.
We ask your help in this matter, it is for your safety and protection.
If you have any questions, please contact the Biddeford Fire Department.
Sincerely,
Robert T. Fournier
Chief
152 Alfred Street. Biddeford, ME 04005-2589
Business Telephone 282-6632
FAX 283-8243
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Maine State Tax Relief Programs
Maine Residents Property Tax and Rent "Circuit Breaker" Refund
Summary of the Program Beginning August 1, 2007 for Refunds of Property Tax Assessed and Rent Paid During 2006. (Note: The program to apply for refunds of property tax assessed and/or rent paid during 2007 begins August 1, 2008.)
Over 200,000 Maine households qualify for a partial refund of property tax assessed and/or rent they paid in 2006. The maximum refund available is $2,000.
You may qualify for a refund if:
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You do not have a spouse or dependent(s) and your 2006 household income was $80,750 or less; or
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you do have a spouse or dependent(s) and your 2006 household income was $105,750 or less
AND
NOTE: Seniors do not need to meet this requirement when their household income is below $13,200 for those living alone or below $16,300 for those living with a spouse or dependent. See the application booklet for more information on who qualifies for the senior portion of the program.
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Tax Relief
Maine Residents Property Tax and Rent Refund
Summary of the Program Beginning August 1, 2006 for Refunds of Property Tax Assessed and Rent Paid During 2005.
Over 200,000 Maine households qualify for a partial refund of property tax assessed and/or rent they paid in 2005. The maximum refund available is $2,000.
You may qualify for a refund if:
- You do not have a spouse or dependent(s) and your 2005 household income was $77,000 or less; or
- you do have a spouse or dependent(s) and your 2005 household income was $102,000 or less
AND
- Your 2005 property tax was more than 4% of your 2005 household income; or
- The rent you paid in 2005 was more than 20% of your 2005 household income.
NOTE: Seniors do not need to meet this requirement when their household income is below $12,700 for those living alone or below $15,700 for those living with a spouse or dependent. See the application booklet for more information on who qualifies for the senior portion of the program.
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Guide to Property Tax Abatement and Appeal
The Maine Constitution states that property shall be assessed at its "just value" interpreted by the Courts to mean, "what a willing buyer would pay a willing seller" for a particular piece of property.
Local assessors are required by law to ascertain as nearly as possible the amount of value as of the first day of each April of the real estate (land and building) and personal property subject to be taxed.
Maine State law gives the local assessor wide latitude in determining assessments and has stringent requirements for taxpayers challenging their assessments
Taxpayers can challenge their property tax assessment through the abatement process: (Form and
instructions at Assessor's Office Biddeford City Hall, Second floor)
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An application for abatement must be filed in writing within 185 days of the commitment of the tax. Typically this filing period begins August lst. The burden is on the taxpayer to prove that an abatement is warranted. Much research is required into sales records, property cards,
site location indexes, location, etc. You can view all the Biddeford property assessments on the City's web site www.biddefordmaine.org. On the left side of the home page click on
GIS Mapping and Parcel Data and follow the instructions.
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State Law allows the assessor to be accurate within reasonable limits of practicality.-meaning 10%
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If request is denied a denial notice will be sent to the applicant indicating that the applicant has 60 days from the date of the notice to file an appeal. If the assessor fails to give a written notice within 60 days the application is deemed to have been denied, and the applicant may proceed with an appeal.
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The applicant may then apply in writing to the Board of Assessment Review within 60 days. Here again the taxpayer has the burden of persuading the assessment review board that the assessor's valuation was manifestly wrong.
- If denied or if the board fails to give written notice of its decision within 60 days of application an appeal may be made to Superior Court (Cost $120.00) within 30 days under Rule 80B of the Maine Rules of Civil Procedure.
Each tax year is a "new ballgame," so denial one year on failure to pursue an appeal will not legally prevent one from seeking an abatement in subsequent years. If no one questions the
Assessor's judgement the flaws created are exacerbated in later years. Abatement is a hard road
to follow but one that should be well traveled.
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Property Tax Abatement Form
Please click here to download a PDF version of this from. You will need Adobe Acrobat to open and print this form.
Homestead Exemption Form
Please click here to download a PDF version of this from. You will need Adobe Acrobat to open and print this form.
Veteran Exemption Form
Please click here to download a PDF version of this from. You will need Adobe Acrobat to open and print this form.
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A Maine Tax by Any Other Name…
The following letter to the editor was written by State Representative John McKane (R) and published in the Bangor Daily News on 02/09/06. It is reprinted here at the request of Lou Quenneville.
You know the old saying, "If it walks like a duck
and quacks like a duck, it's probably a duck." What
this adage usually refers to is taxes. You can call
a tax a tax or a fee or an assessment or a savings
offset payment. But if you are paying money to the
government it is still a tax.
Maine people know this well. We carry the highest
tax burden in the United States. That is a fact that
cannot be hidden by the political spinmeisters.
Unfortunately, the money is coming out of our
pockets faster than ever.
Recently, the governor and the majority party
leaders, in response to the five-part "Fleecing of
Maine" series (see www.mehousegop.com), have tried
to explain away some of Maine's enormous tax
increases. Using a variety of ingenious methods,
they have managed to hide what now appears to be a
much higher number and artificially shrink the
increase in Maine's tax burden to only $239 million.
Ah, if only it were true!
Finding the truth about Maine's taxes and fees is no
easy task. It took many months of analyzing
spreadsheets, fiscal reports and other data provided
by the state's nonpartisan Office of Fiscal and
Program Review (OFPR). All of this data on Maine's
tax burden is mandated by guidelines set forth by
the federal Census Bureau. These are hard numbers -
there is no "wiggle room."
Rep. David Trahan and I have found that the OFPR has
reported more than $711 million in new or increased
taxes and fees since the Baldacci administration
took office. That's a big difference from the
governor's number - in fact, it is a $472 million
difference.
Let's look at how the administration pretends to
reduce the amount of tax dollars taken from Maine
citizens - on paper - hoping that the people don't
catch on to their duplicity.
They haven't included Maine's gas tax increases.
This tax is indexed to increase automatically with
inflation, but only with the endorsement of the
governor. He endorsed it.
They haven't included the tax on Maine's hospitals,
often called the "tax and match" scheme or the "sick
tax." Supposedly, the money taken from the hospitals
would be reimbursed to them with federal dollars.
But out of 37 hospitals that were taxed, 31 have
received less than was taken from them. The smallest
hospitals were hurt the most by this tax on health
care, which has raised suspicions about the real
purpose of this tax.
The Dirigo "savings offset payment," also known as
the Dirigo tax, is not included because supposedly
Dirigo has saved the health care system of Maine the
equivalent of the $43 million levied on Maine's
insurance companies. Yup, it's a tax. Obviously, the
insurance companies, the Maine Chamber of Commerce
and the auto dealers don't believe any money has
been saved - they've all filed suit to "stay" the
tax.
Then there's the nonconformance with federal tax
codes - tax breaks that people in other states get
but that Mainers don't. There are the "off budget"
accounting shifts of the Business Equipment Tax
Reimbursement (BETR) and the "circuit breaker"
program. And there is the lost revenue from the
misguided liquor business sale that allows the state
to raise taxes the equivalent amount of the sale -
about $125 million - and look like a wash.
Changes by this administration to state statutes
affecting the way this office collects and reports
this data is what is really in dispute. Gimmicks
instituted by this administration and the majority
party to that process, and when understood, reveal
tax increases that could be as high as $1.1 billion.
All of this information is available at the OFPR,
located right in the State House. It is open to the
public. But one must travel through an elaborate
maze of complicated statute changes and accounting
confusion to extract the true figures. Even then,
they may be camouflaged under layers of unrelated
data. It's all rather like how Winston Churchill
described the Soviet Union - "a riddle wrapped in a
mystery inside an enigma."
As we continue to fund this ever-expanding state
government we have less and less money for the
things that our families and businesses need.
Besides daily necessities, we have less money for
our children's education, less money to pay for
health insurance, less money for retirement
planning, and less money to expand our businesses.
Indeed, Augusta's insatiable appetite for our tax
dollars drives many young families and businesses
from our beautiful state - or puts them on welfare.
The truth about Maine's "revenue increases" should
not be hidden or camouflaged in any way. Maine
people deserve the plain truth about taxes and fees.
Instead, we get fiscal gimmickry, budgetary
maneuvers and accounting double talk.
You can call a duck an eagle if you want, but it is
still a duck. You won't be fooling anyone. Maine
people aren't being fooled, either - we know when we
are being overtaxed. Simply telling us it isn't so
won't change that reality.
Rep. Jon McKane, R-Newcastle, a first-term
legislator, is an electrical contractor.
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