Citizen Portal
Sign In

Governor proposes phasing out 'Better' business equipment reimbursement; lawmakers probe winners and losers

Joint Standing Committee on Taxation · February 26, 2026

Get AI-powered insights, summaries, and transcripts

Subscribe
AI-Generated Content: All content on this page was generated by AI to highlight key points from the meeting. For complete details and context, we recommend watching the full video. so we can fix them.

Summary

The administration's budget would sunset the Better (Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement) program, saving roughly $7.5 million in the first affected year; committee members pressed Maine Revenue Services for data on which firms and industries would be affected and asked for retail vs. manufacturing breakdowns.

The committee reviewed the governor’s proposal to end the Better program (Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement), a long‑running reimbursement that has paid a share of business personal property taxes for equipment placed into service in earlier years.

OFPR summarized the proposal: Better currently reimburses a portion of property taxes on qualifying equipment (with final 2025 returns due 03/01/2027 and final reimbursements by 11/01/2027) and the governor proposes sunsetting the program, producing a roughly $7.5 million reduction in reimbursements in the first affected year (FY27 in the budget summary).

Maine Revenue Service staff showed that the program is heavily concentrated: the top 25 recipients comprised about 65% of FY25 reimbursements while representing only about 3.4% of recipients. MRS Director of Property Tax Peter Lacy told the committee the program primarily covers equipment placed in service between 1995 and 2007 (with retail equipment an exception that can be newer). Committee members asked MRS to provide a breakdown of the program’s recipients by industry and to identify how much of the reimbursements are legacy manufacturing equipment versus retail equipment so the panel could evaluate economic development tradeoffs.

Committee members expressed concern for paper, manufacturing and other capital‑intensive employers that have relied on Better for years; others noted many benefits of Better accrue to already mobile capital and retail operations for which state incentives may be less necessary. The committee did not take a final vote and requested additional data from MRS for the next meeting.