By N. Joel Moser, municipal and regulatory attorney at Bernstein Shur
Maine’s Constitution requires local assessors to determine a property’s assessed value each year on April 1. Determining the assessment of commercial or industrial taxable property however, can be very difficult. As a result, local assessors sometimes issue a request for information from the taxpayer under Section 706 of Maine’s property tax laws.
This article discusses the importance of responding to a Section 706 Request and describes two amendments to this law. One amendment provides for a specific 30-day deadline for responding to a Section 706 Request, and the other amendment provides new protections for a taxpayer who is asked to submit information that the taxpayer considers confidential or proprietary.