PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • March 14, 2022
Throughout Maine over the last several years, the big-box stores that now dominate retail have been aggressively working to shift their tax burden over to residents, using a dubious legal theory and well-funded lawyers to put communities in an unwinnable situation. L.D. 1129, from Rep. Anne Matlack, D-St. George, would make it clear that communities can use comparable properties that are actually comparable when assessing the value of retail property. It would say explicitly that companies can’t use stores that have failed or been abandoned to lower their assessments, forcing everyone else in town to make up the difference. That practice is called the “dark store” theory, and it’s being used as a strategy for lowering property tax assessments. Since 2015, large retailers in Maine have lowered their valuations by more than $16 million combined using this strategy, according to a report from the Maine Monitor.