Could Maine plantations join a municipal tax base sharing agreement under the law in 1986?

Plain-English summary

Senator Edgar Erwin and Representative Jeffery Mills asked whether Maine plantations could take part in the municipal tax base sharing program without the proposed L.D. 1807. The AG concluded that they already could. The tax base sharing provision applied to “municipalities” under 30 M.R.S.A. § 4997. It did not define that word within the chapter.

The AG therefore used the general statutory definition in 1 M.R.S.A. § 72, which included plantations. A narrower definition in 30 M.R.S.A. § 1901(6) excluded plantations in some settings, but its introductory language confined it to specified chapters. The tax base sharing provision was in Chapter 240-B, outside that list. The opinion said L.D. 1807 was unnecessary to make plantations eligible, although passing it might clarify a result that was not obvious from the face of the Tax Base Sharing Act.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 1986. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Historical summary

For plantation and municipal officials at the time, the opinion treated plantations as eligible partners in tax base sharing agreements under the statutes then in force. For legislators considering L.D. 1807, the AG distinguished a clarifying amendment from a change needed to confer eligibility.

Common questions

Did the 1986 tax base sharing law include plantations?

Yes. The AG read the general definition of “municipality” in 1 M.R.S.A. § 72 to include them for the tax base sharing chapter.

Why did a second statutory definition exclude plantations?

The narrower definition in 30 M.R.S.A. § 1901(6) applied only to chapters listed in that section's introductory sentence. The AG said Chapter 240-B, which contained tax base sharing, was outside that list.

Was L.D. 1807 needed for plantations to join?

The AG said no. The proposal could make the existing interpretation clearer, but the opinion concluded that plantations already qualified.

Background and statutory framework

The opinion compared two definitions of “municipality.” The definition in 1 M.R.S.A. § 72 included plantations unless a listed exception applied. The definition in 30 M.R.S.A. § 1901(6) was narrower for specified chapters. Because the tax base sharing provision was in Title 30, Chapter 240-B, the AG used the Title 1 definition.

Citations

• 30 M.R.S.A. § 4997
• 1 M.R.S.A. § 72
• 30 M.R.S.A. § 1901(6)
• L.D. 1807, the proposed clarification discussed in the opinion

Source

• Landing page: https://www.maine.gov/legis/lawlib/lldl/agops/agops.htm
• Original PDF: https://lldc.mainelegislature.org/Open/AG/Opinions/1986/ag_19860221.pdf

Original opinion text

Best-effort transcription from a scanned PDF. Minor errors may remain — the linked PDF is authoritative.

.1
• I J.\~1ES E. TIER'\EY
ATTORNEY GENERAL

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STATE OF M.\l'.\E
0EPARB1E~T OF TIIE ATTOR'\EY GDERAL
STATE HOL'SE STATIU'\ 6
ArGtSTA. ,1-\J'\E 0-1333

February 21, 1986

Senator Edgar Erwin
Representative Jeffery N. Mills
State House
Augusta, ME 04333

Dear Senator Erwin and Representative Mills:

You have asked whether the plantations of the State are, under current law, eligible to participate in tax base sharing, pursuant to 30 M.R.S.A. § 4996-98, thereby rendering_ unnecessary the passage of Legislative Document 1807, "AN ACT
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to Clarify the Applicability of Tax Base Sharing to
Plantations." For the reasons which follow, this Department concludes that plantations are included within the existing statutory provisions for tax base sharing .

. The current tax base sharing provisions apply to "municipalities". 30 M.R.S.A. § 4997. The term "municipality" is not defined within those provisions. However, 1 M.R.S.A.
§ 72, which provides general definitions for construction of Maine statutes, defines "municipality" as follows:

"Municipality" includes cities, towns and plantations, except that "municipality" does not include plantations in Title 10, chapter 110, subchapter IV; Title 30, chapters 201 to 213; 235; 239, subchapters I-A, I-B, II, III, III-A and IV; and chapters 240, 24~ and 243 to 245.

Because the tax base sharing provision is contained within Chapter 240-B of Title 30, plantations are included within the term "municipality" for purposes of that chapter.

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Another definition of "municipality", which is contained in the general provisions for Title 30 and which would be amended by L.D. 1807, does not include plantations. That definition reads:

"Municipality" includes only cities and towns, but shall include plantations in
Chapter 239, subchapters V and VI and, for purposes of regulating motor vehicles on icebound inland lakes pursuant to section 2151, subsection 7.

30 M.R.S.A. § 1901(6) (Supp. 1985). However, the lead-in sentence to the definitions which include this definition of "municipality" provides as follows:

The listed terms ai used in chapters 201 to 213, 235 and 239, subchapters I-A to VI, chapters 241, 243 to 245 and Title 10, chapter 110, subchapter VI are defined as follows, unless a different meaning is plainly required by the context.
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30 M.R.S.A. § 1901 (Supp. 1985). Because the section 1901 definitions do not apply to Chapter 240-B of Title 30, which contains the tax base sharing provisions, the definition of "municipality" within that section has no effect on construction of the tax base sharing provisions. Therefore, the definition of "municipality" in 1 M.R.S.A. § 72 controls, with the result that plantations are included within that term for purposes of tax base sharing.

While the foregoing reading of the relevant statutes seems clear and renders unnecessary the enactment of L.D. 1807, the result is not apparent from the face of the Tax Base Sharing Act. Thus, it may be that the passage of L.D. 1807 is desirable, only in order, as the title of the bill and its Statement of Fact indicate, to clarify the existing state of the law which is somewhat complicated. In any event, I hope that the foregoing has been helpful; please let me know if I
can be of further assistance.
·

TIERNEY
General
JET:sw
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(. 1
2
SECOND REGULAR SESSION

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ONE HUNDRED AND TWELFTH LEGISLATURE
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        (          5   Legislative Document                                                       No. 1807

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7 H.P. 1290
House of Representatives, January 9, 1986
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Approved for introduction by a majority of the Legislative Council
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pursuant to Joint Rule 26 .
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Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed.
10
EDWIN H. PERT, Clerk
Presented by Representative Mills of Bethel.
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12
STATE OF MAINE
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14
IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD
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NINETEEN HUNDRED AND EIGHTY-SIX

C 16
17 AN ACT to Clarify the Applicability of Tax
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Base Sharing to Plantations.
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20 Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as ( 21 follows:
22 Sec. 1. 30 MRSA §1901, sub-§6, as amended by PL 23 1983, c. 114, §3, is further amended to read:
24 6. Municipality. "Municipality" i~cludes only 25 cities and towns, but s~aii ~Re~~ae includes planta- 26 tions in chapter 239, subchapters V and VI; chapter 27 240-B; and 7 for purposes of regulating motor vehicles 28 on icebound inland lakes pursuant to section 2151, 29 subsection 7.

                  30       Sec. 2. 30 MRSA §4997, sub-§1, as enacted by                                 PL

31 1973, c. 258, is amended to read:
32 1. Agreement. Any 2 or more municipalities may, 33 by a vote of their legislative bodies, enter into an

········ ···.::·:·>.. :·•
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 1 agreement to share all or a specific part of the com- 2 mercial, industrial or residential assessed valuation \

                   3   located within their respective communities.      For                            '

4 purposes of this chapter, the term "municipalities" 5 includes cities, towns and plantations .

.·.··
6
STATEMENT OF FACT

7 The purpose of this bill is to ma~e it clear that 8 plantations are eligible to participate in tax base 9 sharing.

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