126th MAINE LEGISLATURE
		LD 402		LR 988(01)
	An Act To Exempt Members of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians from Property Tax
	Preliminary Fiscal Impact Statement for Original Bill
	Sponsor: Rep. Bear of Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians
	Committee: Taxation
	Fiscal Note Required: Yes
Preliminary Fiscal Impact Statement
State Mandate - Unfunded Current biennium cost increase - General Fund
State Mandates
	Required Activity				Unit Affected	Local Cost
	Municipalities will process applications for tax exemption necessary to account for the exempt property owned by members of the Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians.				Municipality	Insignificant statewide
	The required local activities in this bill may represent a State mandate pursuant to the Constitution of Maine.  Unless General Fund appropriations are provided to fund at least 90% of the additional costs or a Mandate Preamble is amended to the bill and two-thirds of the members of each House vote to exempt this mandate from the funding requirement, municipalities may not be required to implement these changes.
Fiscal Detail and Notes
	Due to the Constitutional requirement in Article IV, Part Third, Section 23, the State would be required to annually appropriate funds to reimburse certain municipalities for not less than 50% of the property tax revenue lost due to the exemption proposed in this bill.  At this time, the amount of property that would be affected and require state reimbursement is unknown.  Reimbursement for lost property tax revenue does not address the mandated activities.