Assessment—General Requirements and Process

Assessment—General Requirements and Process

Assessors are public officials whose principal duties are to ascertain and list all taxable property within their municipality, to value taxable property according to its “just value,” and to assess each taxpayer his or her fair proportion of State, county, and municipal taxes. The only way in which this tax burden can be fairly distributed is for the assessors to attempt to discover all taxable property within their municipality and to value all property fairly. When a property value is too high, the owner is helping to pay the taxes of others; if it is too low, the owner is getting a “free ride” to some extent.

Power to Tax; Attempts to Limit Local Taxing Authority

Municipal assessors may only assess taxes that are authorized by State law. A municipality has no authority to establish a tax by a vote of its legislative body. Any delegation of the power to tax by the Maine Legislature to municipalities must be clear and unambiguous. Maine Constitution, Article 1, § 22; Hefflefinger, Inc. d/b/a Thrifty of Portland v. City of Portland, 1999 ME 153, 739 A.2d 844, citing City of Auburn v. Paul, 110 Me. 192, 85 A.571, 575 (1912).

Likewise, a municipality has no authority to adopt an article, ordinance, or charter provision which attempts to set a limit on the tax rate (“mill rate”) which the assessor may apply in calculating individual property tax obligations. Nor may a municipality establish rules governing the assessment methodology used by an assessor or the value which will be assigned to property. 36 M.R.S.A. §§ 708, 701-A, 710; Maine Constitution, Article IX §§ 7,8.

Legal Status of Assessors

Although local tax assessors are chosen by the municipality, the Maine Supreme Court has held repeatedly that an assessor acts as an agent of the State in performing his or her assessment duties. Those duties are imposed by State law and cannot be altered by a vote of the local legislative body or municipal officers. Frankfort v. Waldo Lumber Co., 128 Me. 1, 3, 145 A.241 (1929); City of Rockland v. Farnsworth, 93 Me. 178, 183, 44 A.681 (1899); McKay Radio and Telegraph Co. v. Inhabitants of Town of Cushing, 131 Me. 333, 335, 162 A.783 (1932); Inhabitants of Town of Milo v. Milo Water Co., 131 Me. 372, 377, 163 A.163 (1932); Frank v. Assessors of Skowhegan, 329 A.2d 167 (Me. 1974). See also 36 M.R.S.A. § 701.

Importance of Methodology. While it is important to be as accurate as possible in the value assigned to a piece of property, it is just as important to be sure that the method used to assess is equitable and not discriminatory. Valuations will not be equitable unless they are all based initially on fair market value.

Review by Maine Revenue Services (State Tax Assessor)

Title 36 M.R.S.A. § 384 outlines the following role for the State Tax Assessor in monitoring local assessment practices:

ü   diligently investigate all cases of concealment of property from taxation, of undervaluation, and of failure to assess taxable property;

ü   report all cases of concealment, undervalation and failure to assess to the municipality;

ü   direct the attorney general and county attorneys to institute appropriate legal action to enforce all laws relating to assessment and taxation of property and to the liability of individuals, corporate officers and public officials for neglecting or failing to comply with those laws;

ü   order reassessment where necessary to ensure that all classes of property are assessed in a municipality in compliance with the law;

ü   hire the necessary assistance at municipal expense to complete the reassessment, where the assessors fail to provide a satisfactory reassessment. (See Young v. Johnson, 161 Me. 64 (1965) for a discussion of the State Assessor’s authority.)

Where Taxed and To Whom—General Rule

As noted in Chapter 2, 36 M.R.S.A. § 708 requires local assessors to locate and assess all taxable personal property. Assessors cannot arbitrarily decide not to assess any personal property or to assess some but not others.

Taxable personal property, whether located within or outside the State, normally must be taxed to the owner by the municipality in which he or she resides. 36 M.R.S.A. § 602. Any local assessors finding personal property in their municipality on April 1 which is not owned by a resident of that municipality, and which does not fall within one of the exceptions discussed below, should notify the municipality in which the owner resides, so that the assessors there may list the property for taxation. Otherwise, the property is likely to escape taxation.