LD 1 AND REVENUE SHARING
MMA received several inquiries regarding the recent reprojections of State-Municipal Revenue Sharing by the State Treasurer. A somewhat frustrating situation arose out of the reprojections for some towns. Inadvertently, some of these communities went over their LD 1 limit when they had expected to be under the limit. The primary reason for this ended up being the shifiting state estimate of revenue sharing for the 2006-07 budget.
The problem surfaced when the tax commitment paperwork was being completed. The state form for the “Municipal Tax Assessment Warrant” (the second half of the “Assessors Certification of Assessment”) is filled out to determine the “net assessment for commitment”. The form is an easy way to check how a town did compared to its LD 1 levy limit. Simply subtracting “Total Deductions” (line 10) from the “Municipal Appropriation” (line 2) gives you the municipal component of the property tax commitment (i.e., what you compare to your LD 1 “property tax levy limit”). If the math gives you a number over the levy limit, you need to either adjust your revenue estimates (deductions) upward to compensate for the overage or you will need to call a special town meeting to do the override vote (assuming this was not done at the annual town meeting).
One aberration of the revenue sharing snafu is that many of the Rev I communities received too much money in their June distribution check and for some, it made them have “net new funding” in FY 05-06. This overpayment was supposed to go to the Rev II communities. The adjustment in the June payment was to be made in the July payment where money was taken from the Rev I communities and given to the Rev II communities. The irony is that the overpayment in June put some Rev I communities into the “net new funding” category of LD 1. In other words, because of the June overpayment their FY 05-06 revenue sharing received is over the FY 04-05 amount multiplied by the growth factor (the LD 1 formula for determining “net new funding”). Under LD 1, “net new funding” is supposed to be subtracted before a final “property tax levy limit” is determined.
Technically, communities probably should be declaring the June overpayment as revenue sharing received in FY 05-06, but MMA feels that it would be justifiable to account for the overpayment in the FY 06-07 revenue sharing. Given the lower reprojection of FY 06-07 revenue sharing for most communities, few would see any “net new funding” for next year’s LD 1 calculation, even with the June overpayment factored in.
Anyone with LD 1 questions should contact Michael Starn or Geoff Herman at MMA, 1-800-452-8786.
ELECTIONS
The Maine Town & City Clerks Association (MTCCA) will be holding two workshops in September for election officials. The first, the Clerks Elections Workshop, is a full day event on September 6 at the Best Western Merry Manor in South Portland. This workshop will be repeated in Orono, at the Black Bear Inn, on September 12. The other workshop, for registrars of voters, is a half-day workshop that will be held only at the Augusta Civic Center on September 7.
For more information, contact MMA’s Training & Affiliate office, 1-800-452-8786.
MAAO CONFERENCE
The Maine Association of Assessing Officers (MAAO) will hold its annual conference on September 13-15 at the Spruce Point Inn in Boothbay Harbor.
For more information, contact MMA’s Training & Affiliate office, 1-800-452-8786.
MWWCA FALL CONVENTION
The 2006 Fall Convention of the Maine WasteWater Control Association will be held September 20-22 at the Spruce Point Inn in Boothbay Harbor. This is the 40 th anniversary of the MWWCA . Also invited to participate in the conference are members of the Maine Fire Chiefs Association and Maine Water Utilities Association.
For more information, contact MMA’s Training & Affiliate office, 1-800-452-8786.