BIDDEFORD — Last Wednesday, Sen. David Dutremble, D-Biddeford, introduced a bill that would help senior citizens remain in their homes by providing property tax relief.

Under LD 1646, seniors who have lived in their homes for a certain amount of time and fulfilled other eligibility requirements would no longer face property tax payment increases.

“As a paramedic, I see the elderly struggling,” said Dutremble, who is a firefighter with the Biddeford Fire Department. “I don’t feel we’re doing enough to help them.”

His bill, said Dutremble, would help the many seniors who live on fixed incomes and are having trouble staying in their homes because of escalating property taxes.

The state senator proposed his bill after the elimination during the last legislative session of the program commonly known as the circuit breaker. That program was replaced by the Property Tax Fairness Credit.

Under the older program, the average rebate was $478, and the maximum was $1,600, according to Dutremble.

Under the new program, the maximum rebate for people over 70 years old is only $400.

If passed, Dutremble’s bill would allow residents 65 and older who have lived in their home for a minimum of five years, have been retired for five years and have an income of no more than $65,000 to receive a tax abatement.

The effect would be no property tax increase, because the seniors would pay the same amount of tax each year they are eligible as they paid the first year they applied for the abatement.

Dutremble said he would be open to compromise regarding the age and time of residency.

The bill would require the state to reimburse communities 50 percent of the property tax revenue lost as a result of the program.

However, not all favor the bill, which would benefit seniors only.

The Maine Municipal Association, or MMA, offered testimony in opposition. Part of the problem with the measure, stated the organization representing Maine’s cities and towns, is that it would be very complicated for communities to track applicants’ income and retirement status.

The MMA also expressed philosophical objections to the bill.

“Systems that give significant tax advantage on the basis of longevity in the community … establish inappropriate discriminations between residents of tenure and relative newcomers,” according to the testimony.

In addition, there is the possibility of “gaming” of the tax code whereby people are residents on paper to take advantage of the lower property tax but actually live elsewhere, stated the MMA. Long-time residents who decide to downsize after retirement are also discriminated against because they wouldn’t be able to take advantage of the proposed tax break for several years, the MMA noted.

Another objection by the MMA is that the bill would be in flagrant disregard of the Maine Constitution section that states that taxes on real and personal estate “shall be apportioned and assessed equally according to the just value.”

Also, the MMA testified, by lowering the tax bills of some residents, the tax bills of the rest of a municipality’s residents would increase.

Dutremble said he was aware of the MMA’s concerns with his bill, and he planned to meet with the organization to discuss those and hopefully work out a compromise.

If the bill is not approved in the current session, Dutremble said if he is re-elected in November, he will continue his efforts to propose legislation to help Maine’s seniors remain in their homes.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.