The provisions of 36 M.R.S.A. §841 et seq. authorizes the Board of Aroostook County Commissioners to convene property tax abatement denial appeals for residential and commercial property owners in those municipalities or primary assessing areas not having independent Boards of Assessment review.

Applications must be complete, legible, and filed within 60 days of receiving an abatement denial from the Municipality. The completed application must be signed, dated and accompanied by a copy of the original tax bill, abatement request application filed with the Municipality, and the written tax abatement denial from the Municipality. Failure to complete this form in its entirety may result in no hearing being scheduled. The Property Owner is responsible for providing sufficient documentation to support their appeal request and bears the burden of proof that the property assessment was inaccurate.

Pursuant to 36 M.R.S.A. §841 et seq. the Board of Aroostook County Commissioners may only intervene in tax disputes where certain conditions exist. Applicants should indicate that basis for seeking abatement is either error, inequity, or “other”; the latter category requiring explanation. The section labeled “Reason for seeking abatement” should be completed in a 100 word or less summary; if and when a hearing on the petition is convened, appellants will have an opportunity to present complete information. For assessment errors or inequity, please provide 5 (five) comps for similar properties in the same municipality.

Once a completed application is received from the Property Owner, the Municipality will receive a request from the Commissioners’ Office for information related to the property and tax assessment. A hearing will be scheduled within 60 days of receiving a completed application from the Property Owner. Both parties, the Property Owner and the Municipality, will present their cases under oath to the County Commissioners.

The County Commissioners will provide a written decision within 30 days of the hearing. Should you be dissatisfied with the decision of the County Commissioners you may have a right of further appeal to the Superior Court. In some cases, however, the Superior Court has rejected such appeals because there was no stenographic record of the hearing before the Commissioners. The County Commissioners do not provide such a record; however, they will arrange for an independent recorder to be present at the hearing at a cost to be determined by the recorder. All recorder costs are the sole responsibility of the requestor and due prior to the hearing date. In the event that both parties request a recorder, the costs will be divided evenly between the Property Owner and Municipality.

Questions? Contact the Commissioners’ Office at 207-493-3318.

Forms:
Property Owner – Notice to Appeal for Property Tax Abatement
Municipality – Notice of Appeal for Property Tax Abatement

Additional Resources:
36 M.R.S.A. §841:
https://www.mainelegislature.org/legis/statutes/36/title36sec844.html
Maine Revenue Services – Property Tax Abatement and Appeals Procedures:
https://www.maine.gov/revenue/sites/maine.gov.revenue/files/inline-files/bull10.pdf