Property tax relief payments received under this chapter may not be included as income for purposes of any state or municipally administered public benefit program but may be considered for purposes of determining eligibility for abatement under section 841, subsection 2.__These property tax relief payments do not duplicate and may not reduce the amount of any individual's benefits under the Additional Support for People in Retraining and Employment - Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program established in Title 22, section 3781-A.

§6239.__Local option property tax relief

A municipality, by local option referendum, may create a program that provides property tax relief to Maine resident property owners who have resided in their homes for 20 years or longer and whose income level places their ability to stay in their homes in jeopardy.__ The municipality may freeze the property tax rate for eligible households or increase the tax liability by the rate of inflation for eligible households.__Upon the sale or transfer of the property, the municipality may recoup the difference in the amount actually paid by the property owner and the amount the property owner would have had to pay but for participation in the program.

Sec. 8. 36 MRSA §6251, sub-§1, ¶B, as repealed and replaced by PL 1993, c. 395, §31, is amended to read:

B. The individual or, in the case of 2 or more individuals filing a claim jointly, all the individuals together have household income, as defined in section 6201 6222, subsection 7 8, of less than $32,000 for the calendar year immediately preceding the calendar year in which the claim is filed.

Sec. 9. 36 MRSA §6253, sub-§1, ¶B, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 534, Pt. C, §1, is amended to read: