| Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: |
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| | Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §5686 is enacted to read: |
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| §5686.__Revenue sharing of lodging taxes |
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| | 1.__Lodging Tax Relief Fund established.__There is established | the Lodging Tax Relief Fund, referred to in this section as "the | fund," for the purpose of returning a portion of the revenue | generated by lodging taxes to the municipalities in which those | taxes were collected.__As used in this section, "lodging tax" | means the tax imposed pursuant to Title 36, section 1811 on the | value of rental of living quarters in any hotel, rooming house or | tourist or trailer camp. |
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| | 2.__Amount of transfer; duties of Executive Director of Bureau | of Revenue Services.__Beginning October 1, 2005, on the last day | of each month, the Executive Director of the Bureau of Revenue | Services within the Department of Administrative and Finanical | Services shall transfer to the fund an amount equal to 30% of the | receipts from the lodging tax credited to the General Fund.__ | Beginning November 2005, on the 27th day of each month, the | executive director shall distribute the balance in the fund to | the municipalities based on the information provided by the State | Tax Assessor pursuant to subsection 3. |
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| | 3.__Duties of State Tax Assessor.__Beginning November 2005, by | the 25th day of each month, the State Tax Assessor shall | calculate the amount of the lodging tax collected in each | municipality and the amount to be returned to each municipality | pursuant to subsection 2 and provide the calculation to the | Executive Director of the Bureau of Revenue Services within the | Department of Administrative and Financial Services. |
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| | 4.__Plantation and unorganized territory.__For purposes of | this section, plantations and the unorganized territory are | treated as if they were municipalities. |
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| | 5.__Indian territory.__For purposes of this section, the | Passamaquoddy Tribe and the Penobscot Nation Indian territories | are treated as if they were municipalities. |
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| | Sec. 2. 36 MRSA §1811, first ¶, as amended by PL 2001, c. 439, Pt. | TTTT, §2 and affected by §3, is further amended to read: |
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| | A tax is imposed on the value of all tangible personal | property and taxable services sold at retail in this State. The | rate of tax is 7% on the value of liquor sold in licensed | establishments as defined in Title 28-A, section 2, subsection | 15, in accordance with Title 28-A, chapter 43; 7% 10% on the | value of rental of living quarters in any hotel, rooming house or | tourist or trailer camp; 10% on the value of rental for a period |
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