30-A §5222. Definitions - Maine Statutes

Title 30-A: MUNICIPALITIES AND COUNTIES HEADING: PL 1987, C. 737, PT. A, §2 (NEW)

Part 2: MUNICIPALITIES HEADING: PL 1987, C. 737, PT. A, §2 (NEW)

Subpart 8: DEVELOPMENT HEADING: PL 1987, C. 737, PT. A, §2 (NEW)

Chapter 206: DEVELOPMENT DISTRICTS (HEADING: PL 2001, C. 669, §1 (NEW))

Subchapter 1: MUNICIPAL DEVELOPMENT DISTRICTS (HEADING: PL 2001, C. 669, §1 (NEW))

§5222. Definitions

As used in this subchapter, unless the context otherwise indicates, the following terms have the following meanings. [2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW).]

1. Amenities. "Amenities" means items of street furniture, signs and landscaping, including, but not limited to, plantings, benches, trash receptacles, street signs, sidewalks and pedestrian malls.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

1-A. Arts district. “Arts district” means a specified area within the corporate limits of a municipality that has been designated by the municipality for the purpose of providing employment and cultural opportunities through the development of arts opportunities, including, but not limited to, museums, galleries, arts education, art studios, performing arts venues and associated businesses.

[ 2007, c. 413, §2 (NEW) .]

2. Captured assessed value. "Captured assessed value" means the amount, as a percentage or stated sum, of increased assessed value that is utilized from year to year to finance the project costs contained within the development program.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

3. Commissioner. "Commissioner" means the Commissioner of Economic and Community Development.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

4. Current assessed value. "Current assessed value" means the assessed value of the district certified by the municipal assessor as of April 1st of each year that the development district remains in effect.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

5. Department. "Department" means the Department of Economic and Community Development.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

6. Development district. "Development district" means a specified area within the corporate limits of a municipality that has been designated as provided under sections 5223 and 5226 and that is to be developed under a development program.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

7. Development program. "Development program" means a statement of means and objectives designed to provide new employment opportunities, retain existing employment, improve or broaden the tax base, construct or improve the physical facilities and structures or improve the quality of pedestrian and vehicular transportation, as described in section 5224, subsection 2.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

8. Downtown. "Downtown" means the traditional central business district of a community that has served as the center of socioeconomic interaction in the community, characterized by a cohesive core of commercial and mixed-use buildings, often interspersed with civic, religious and residential buildings and public spaces, that are typically arranged along a main street and intersecting side streets and served by public infrastructure.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

9. Downtown tax increment financing district. "Downtown tax increment financing district" means a tax increment financing district described in a downtown redevelopment plan that is consistent with the downtown criteria established pursuant to rules of the department.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

10. Financial plan. "Financial plan" means a statement of the project costs and sources of revenue required to accomplish the development program.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

11. Increased assessed value. "Increased assessed value" means the valuation amount by which the current assessed value of a tax increment financing district exceeds the original assessed value of the district. If the current assessed value is equal to or less than the original, there is no increased assessed value.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

12. Maintenance and operation. "Maintenance and operation" means all activities necessary to maintain facilities after they have been developed and all activities necessary to operate the facilities, including, but not limited to, informational, promotional and educational programs and safety and surveillance activities.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

13. Original assessed value. "Original assessed value" means the assessed value of a development district as of March 31st of the tax year preceding the year in which it was designated.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

14. Project costs. "Project costs" means any expenditures or monetary obligations incurred or expected to be incurred that are authorized by section 5225, subsection 1 and included in a development program.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

15. Tax increment. "Tax increment" means real and personal property taxes assessed by a municipality, in excess of any state, county or special district tax, upon the increased assessed value of property in the development district.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

16. Tax increment financing district. "Tax increment financing district" means a type of development district, or portion of a district, that uses tax increment financing under section 5227.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

17. Tax shifts. "Tax shifts" means the effect on a municipality's state revenue sharing, education subsidies and county tax obligations that results from the designation of a tax increment financing district and the capture of increased assessed value.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

18. Tax year. "Tax year" means the period of time beginning on April 1st and ending on the succeeding March 31st.

[ 2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW) .]

19. Transit. "Transit" means transportation systems in which people are conveyed by means other than their own vehicles, including, but not limited to, bus systems, street cars, light rail and other rail systems.

[ 2009, c. 314, §2 (NEW) .]

20. Transit facility. "Transit facility" means a place providing access to transit services, including, but not limited to, bus stops, bus stations, interchanges on a highway used by one or more transit providers, ferry landings, train stations, shuttle terminals and bus rapid transit stops.

[ 2009, c. 314, §3 (NEW) .]

21. Transit-oriented development. "Transit-oriented development" means a type of development that links land use with transit facilities to support and be supported by a transit system. It combines housing with complementary public uses such as jobs, retail or services establishments that are located in transit-served nodes or corridors. Transit-oriented development is intended through location and design to rely on transit as one of the means of meeting the transportation needs of residents, customers and occupants as demonstrated through such factors as transit facility proximity, mixed uses, off-street parking space ratio less than industry standards, architectural accommodation for transit and marketing that highlights transit.

[ 2009, c. 314, §4 (NEW) .]

22. Transit-oriented development area. "Transit-oriented development area" means an area of any shape such that no part of the perimeter is more than 1/4 mile from an existing or planned transit facility.

[ 2009, c. 314, §5 (NEW) .]

23. Transit-oriented development corridor. "Transit-oriented development corridor" means a strip of land of any length and up to 500 feet on either side of a roadway serving as a principal transit route.

[ 2009, c. 314, §6 (NEW) .]

24. Transit-oriented development district. "Transit-oriented development district" means a tax increment financing district consisting of a transit-oriented development area or a transit-oriented development corridor.

[ 2009, c. 314, §7 (NEW) .]

SECTION HISTORY

2001, c. 669, §1 (NEW). 2007, c. 413, §2 (AMD). 2009, c. 314, §§2-7 (AMD).