The City of South Portland is seeking applications for its Property Tax Stabilization Program for Municipalities.
Donor Name: City of South Portland
State: Maine
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 12/01/2022
Details:
Property Tax Stabilization for Senior Citizens, also known as the Property Tax Stabilization Program (the “Program”), is a State program that allows certain senior-citizen residents to stabilize, or freeze, the property taxes on their homestead. An applicant must be at least 65 years old, a permanent resident of the State, and must have owned a Maine homestead for at least ten years. As long as the individual files an application and qualifies each year, the tax billed to them for their homestead will continue to be fixed at the amount they were billed in the prior tax year. Eligible residents who move may transfer the fixed tax amount to a new homestead, even if that new homestead is in a different Maine municipality.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for the Program, an individual must meet all of the following as of April 1 of the property tax year for which they are requesting stabilization (so for applications due December 1, 2022, qualifications must be met as of April 1, 2023):
- Be 65 years old or older.
- Be a permanent resident of Maine.
- Have owned a homestead in Maine for at least ten years. The ten-year period does not have to be consecutive.
- Be eligible for a homestead exemption under 36 M.R.S. §§ 681 – 689 on the property which they are requesting stabilization.
If a homestead is owned by more than one individual as joint tenants, only one owner needs to qualify for the Program. There is no payback amount if a property is removed from the Program and there is no income or asset limits to qualify.
Eligible Property
- Must be a “homestead,” as defined in the homestead exemption statue, 36 M.R.S. § 681(2):
- Homestead” means any residential property, including cooperative property, in this State assessed as real property owned by an applicant or held in a revocable living trust for the benefit of the applicant and occupied by the applicant as the applicant’s permanent residence or owned by a cooperative housing corporation and occupied as a permanent residence by a resident who is a qualifying shareholder. A “homestead” does not include any real property used solely for commercial purposes.
- Must be owned by an eligible individual.
For more information, visit City of South Portland.