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132nd MAINE LEGISLATURE
FIRST REGULAR SESSION-2025
Legislative Document No. 115
S.P. 15 In Senate, January 8, 2025
An Act to Assess Impact Fees on Megayachts
Reference to the Committee on Transportation suggested and ordered printed.
DAREK M. GRANT
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator BENNETT of Oxford.
Cosponsored by Representative LOOKNER of Portland.
Page 1 - 132LR0061(01)
1Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
2Sec. 1. 38 MRSA §14 is enacted to read:
3§14. Impact fee; megayachts
41. Definitions. As used in this section, unless the context otherwise indicates, the
5 following terms have the following meanings.
6 A. "Department" means the Department of Environmental Protection.
7 B. "Fund" means the Megayacht Fund established in subsection 3.
8 C. "Megayacht" means a privately owned pleasure vessel owned by an individual or a
9 corporation and measuring at least 150 feet in overall length. "Megayacht" does not
10 include a commercial fishing vessel, a commercial cruise vessel with more than 20
11 passengers not including crew, a commercial scientific research vessel, a marine
12 salvage or construction equipment vessel, a commercial freight-carrying vessel, a
13 vessel built before 1950, a vessel made primarily of wood, a military vessel or a vessel
14 owned by an academic institution.
15 D. "Slip" means a dock, mooring, finger float, pier or any other marine infrastructure
16 that allows for vessels to securely stay for a period of longer than 8 hours.
172. Impact fee. If a municipality collects slip fees, the municipality shall require the
18 owner of a megayacht to pay an impact fee of $10 per foot of length over 150 feet for each
19 day up to 30 consecutive days that the megayacht is secured to a slip with respect to which
20 the municipality collects a slip fee. The municipality may retain 10% of all impact fees
21 collected pursuant to this subsection and shall quarterly transmit the remainder of those
22 impact fees to the Treasurer of State for deposit in the fund. The department may adopt
23 rules to implement this subsection. Rules adopted under this subsection are routine
24 technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter 375, subchapter 2-A.
253. Megayacht Fund established. The Megayacht Fund is established within the
26 department to receive the department's portion of impact fees assessed and collected under
27 subsection 2. The department, in accordance with procedures and criteria established by
28 the department by rule, shall quarterly disburse the money within the fund as follows:
29 A. Fifty percent of funds to municipalities to support harbor infrastructure and sea level
30 rise mitigation infrastructure; and
31 B. Fifty percent of funds to support public transit infrastructure, including ferries and
32 land-based public transportation.
33 Rules adopted under this subsection are routine technical rules as defined in Title 5, chapter
34 375, subchapter 2-A.
35SUMMARY
36 This bill provides that a megayacht is subject to an impact fee of $10 per foot of length
37 over 150 feet for each day up to 30 consecutive days that the megayacht is secured to a slip
38 in a municipality that collects slip fees. Megayachts are defined as certain privately owned
39 vessels that are at least 150 feet in length. It provides that commercial fishing vessels,
40 certain commercial cruise vessels, commercial scientific research vessels, marine salvage
41 or construction equipment vessels, commercial freight-carrying vessels, vessels built
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Page 2 - 132LR0061(01)
42 before 1950, vessels made primarily of wood, military vessels and vessels owned by
43 academic institutions are not included in the definition of "megayacht." Municipalities are
44 allowed to retain 10% of all impact fees, with the remainder to be transferred to the
45 Megayacht Fund, which the bill establishes. The bill requires that 50% of funds in the
46 Megayacht Fund support harbor infrastructure and sea level rise mitigation infrastructure
47 and 50% of funds support public transit infrastructure, including ferries and land-based
48 public transportation.
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