JAY – The director of the state’s property tax division will do an educational presentation Tuesday on the new business machinery and equipment tax exemption.

Next year, taxpayers have the right to ask town assessors for an exemption of personal property taxes on equipment or machinery that would have been taxed for the first time in 2008, David Ledew of the Maine Revenue Services said Friday.

“If they don’t apply for an exemption, then it is not exempt,” Ledew said.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Sept. 18 at the Jay Middle School cafeteria.

It is a significant property tax policy change, he said, that was approved by the Legislature in 2006.

This only affects new equipment, and the towns will be reimbursed 100 percent of any tax revenue lost during the first year of the change, Ledew said.

Old equipment still on the books will continue to be taxed under the personal property tax system as it depreciates.

Reimbursement rates will gradually be ratcheted down in future years, but for some towns that might not be the case, he said.

In three or four years, he said, towns may be getting reimbursed 70 percent for tax losses, but a town like Jay that relies heavily on personal property tax revenue may be entitled to 80 percent reimbursement, Ledew said.

Reimbursement rates will vary from town to town, he added.

Those interested in attending are asked to call the Jay Town Office at 897-6785 to let them know how many people will be attending.