MAAO Bylaws  - Revised October, 2004

MAINE ASSOCIATION OF ASSESSING OFFICERS CONSTITUTION

ARTICLE I - NAME AND MISSION STATEMENT

SECTION 1: The name of this Association shall be the Maine Association of Assessing Officers (hereafter also MAAO). The MAAO shall be an affiliate of the Maine Municipal Association.

SECTION 2: Mission Statement. The Maine Association of Assessing Officers shall be and continue as a nonpolitical and nonpartisan organization dedicated to the purpose of promoting proper real and personal property assessment and administration by the exchange of education, ideas and information through the united efforts and cooperation of its membership.

ARTICLE II MEMBERSHIP

Membership shall consist of Regular, Associate, Subscribing, Municipal or Honorary MAAO members. Regular MAAO members in good standing shall have voting rights.

SECTION 1: Regular Member. Regular membership shall be available to all persons in good standing currently holding the Certified Maine Assessor certification as conveyed by the State Tax Assessor. A Regular Member shall be persons engaged in assessment administration in Maine, employees of the Property Tax Division of the Maine Revenue Services, Single Assessors, assessors representatives and others whose duties are directly related to real and personal property valuation assessments.

SECTION 2: Associate Members. Associate Membership shall be available to persons engaged in assessment administration not holding a Certified Maine Assessor certification; any persons who are employed by any other governmental agency of the State of Maine; any person holding in good standing a national designation that recognizes expertise in real and personal property valuation or any persons not otherwise qualified as a Regular Member.

SECTION 3: Subscribing Members. Subscribing Membership shall be available to any persons not qualified as a Regular Member or an Associate member; or to any organization or group interested in the science of assessment and taxation; or any other person or organization not defined.

SECTION 4: Municipal Membership. Municipal Membership shall be available to any Municipality or Member of a Board of Assessors or any other municipal board member located the State of Maine.

SECTION 5: Honorary Life Members. Honorary Lifetime Membership shall be any person or organization who has rendered outstanding service to the cause of assessment administration, has served the MAAO with distinguished service or has made contributions to the assessment profession of an exemplary nature. Nominations for this honor may be made by any person(s) to the Executive Board and at the next Annual Meeting, the President shall make known the conveyance of such membership.

SECTION 7: Disciplinary actions of Members. Allegations of Violations of the MAAO Code of Ethics will subject any member to disciplinary procedures as detailed in Article VIII.

ARTICLE III - OFFICERS AND DUTIES

SECTION 1: Any Officer of MAAO will be a Regular Member in good standing. The officers shall include the office of President; Vice President/President Elect; Secretary-Treasurer; three (3) directors elected for 2 year terms in the even year and three (3) directors elected for 2 year terms in the odd year. The President and the Vice President/President Elect shall be a Board of Director member who has served a minimum of one 2 year term. The Board of Directors shall elect a Secretary-Treasurer from a member of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors shall be charged to manage the MAAO between Annual Meetings

SECTION 2: The Executive Board shall consist of the current President, Vice President/President Elect and the two most recent Past Presidents.

SECTION 3: President. The President shall be the Chair of the Board of Directors and will preside at all meetings held for the purpose of transacting the business of MAAO. The President shall appoint three (3) Regular Members in good standing to perform an annual audit of the Secretary-Treasurer's records before the Annual Meeting. The President and the two most recent Past Presidents shall serve as a Nominating Committee for the successive Board of Directors. Such nominations are to be presented at the next Annual Meeting. Any Regular Member in good standing may make additional nominations from the floor for any office. The President shall appoint one (1) Regular Member in good standing to serve as Librarian. The duties of the librarian will be to compile any form of information and educational documentation that may be of assistance to the membership and to locate this information at a location acceptable to the Board of Directors.

SECTION 4: Vice President/President Elect. The Vice President/President Elect shall serve as President pro temp at all meetings in which the President is not in attendance. The Vice President/President Elect shall fill any vacancy in the office of President and shall complete the term of the President.

SECTION 5: The Secretary-Treasurer. The Secretary-Treasurer shall receive and disperse all moneys of the MAAO; Keep an accurate account of all financial transactions of the
MAAO; Provide minutes of all meetings of the MAAO; shall submit at each annual meeting a report of all receipts and disbursements during the preceding year; and other duties as deemed required. The Secretary-Treasurer will be provided a stipend as determined by the Board of Directors.

SECTION 6: Editor of MAAO newsletter. The editor of the MAAO newsletter shall be appointed from the membership of MAAO by the Board of Directors. The editor shall be responsible for the production of not less than 4 periodic newsletters in a 1 year period; and other duties as deemed required. The editor of the MAAO newsletter will not have voting rights to the Board of Directors unless otherwise a voting member of the Board of Directors. The editor the MAAO newsletter will be provided a stipend as determined by the Board of Directors.

SECTION 7: Standing Committees. The Board of Directors shall appoint such standing committees as it deems necessary to assist the board of Directors in conducting the business of MAAO.

SECTION 7: Chair of the Education Committee.  The Chair of the Education Committee shall be appointed by the Board of Directors to serve a one year term, coincident with the MAAO fiscal year. It shall be the responsibility of the Chair to assure that the Committee develops educational offerings which meet the needs of the membership and the assessing community. The Chair of the Education Committee will be provided a stipend as determined by the Board of Directors, to be payable at the end of the one year term of office.

ARTICLE IV VACANCY IN OFFICE

SECTION 1: Vacancy in Office. Any vacancy in the office of Board of Director occurring between annual meetings may be filled until the next annual meeting by nomination of the nominating committee, subject to the approval of a majority of the Board of Directors. The Board of Directors may chose not to fill a vacancy in the office of Board of Director if the Board of Directors by majority vote determine the vacancy will cause undue hardship or determines that the vacancy does not inhibit the ability of the Board of Directors to complete its duties. At no time will more than one vacancy of the Board of Directors be permitted. A vacancy in the office of Vice President/President Elect shall be filled by a nomination of the Executive Board subject to the approval of a majority of the Board of Directors. Provided that the office of President Elect will not be filled pending the next annual meeting.

SECTION 2: Removal from Office. The Executive Board reserves the right to remove any Board of Director for cause including absenteeism, Code of Ethics Violations and other actions. Ratification of the removal must be made by a two-thirds majority vote of the Board of Directors. The removal shall constitute a vacancy in the office and be replaced as prescribed in Section 1 of this subsection.

ARTICLE V MEETINGS

SECTION 1: The Annual Meeting shall be held during the Annual Convention of the Maine Municipal Association unless otherwise designated by the Board of Directors; in which case notice of the meeting shall be sent to all Regular Members not less than 30 days prior to such meeting.

SECTION 2: Meetings of the Board of Directors may be called by the President or any 3 members of the Board of Directors.

ARTICLE VI - FIDUCIARY RESPONSIBILITIES

SECTION 1: Fiscal Year. The fiscal year of the Association shall be from  January 1 to  December 31 of each calendar year.

SECTION 2: Financial Liability. No committee or member of the Association shall be authorized to create any financial liability unless the Board of Directors first shall have approved it as to its purpose and amount.

SECTION 3: Budgetary. The Board of Directors shall prepare a budget prior to December 31 of the calendar year to be approved at the first meeting of the Board of Directors of the next calendar year. This budget may be amended by vote of the Board of Directors as required.

SECTION 4: Dues. The Board of Directors shall set annual dues.

ARTICLE VII - AMENDMENTS TO THE CONSTITUTION OF MAAO

SECTION 1: How amended. The Constitution of the Maine Association of Assessing Officers may be amended only at the Annual Meeting by a majority vote of the Regular Members present. Voting will occur only at the Annual Meeting provided that notice of any proposed amendment shall have been sent to all Regular Members not less than thirty (30) days prior to such meeting. Notice shall be considered adequate if the proposed amendments are presented in the last MAAO Newsletter before the Annual Meeting, so long as the newsletter is distributed to the entire membership no less than thirty (30) days prior to the Annual Meeting.

ARTICLE VIII - DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS

SECTION 1: Complaints of Code of Ethics Violations. Any person may, and each member shall, report to the President of the Maine Association of Assessing Officers the alleged actions of any member that may appear to violate the Code of Ethics as adopted by the Maine Association of Assessing Officers. Each complaint shall be referred to the President of the Association and shall be deemed privileged communication. The President of the Association (or their designee) shall act as Supervisory Officer and shall be responsible for proper procedures and review of the complaint. All complaints are to be in writing and are to be signed by a complainant. The signer of the compliant need not be the originator, but may be any person or persons willing to subscribe to the complaint. The complaint will identify the member to which the complaint is brought; states the nature of the complaint; identifies the comments and concerns, if any; any pertinent dates; and any other information that the complainant deems vital to the complaint.

SECTION 2: Complaint Hearing. The Supervisory Officer shall receive all communication concerning the complaint. Within 60 days of the complaint the Supervisory Officer shall convene a hearing consisting of the Ethics Committee of the Association. The Supervisory Officer will notify the member against whom the complaint has been made of the hearing including the date, location and time of the hearing. Such notification shall be made by certified mail, return receipt, and such notice to be made at least 30 days prior to the hearing date. The hearing of the allegations will be offered to all parties reasonable time to present testimony pertinent to the complaint. The members of the Ethics Committee of the Association may make such reasonable inquiries as to the allegations. Upon the presentation of all evidence the members of the Ethics Committee of the Association will conclude the validity of the allegations by majority vote. The Supervisory Officer will communicate in writing the findings of the hearing to the President of the Association. The President of the Association will convene a second hearing to be held by the Board of Directors. The President of the Association will notify the member against whom the complaint notice of the second hearing including the date, location and time of the hearing. Such notification shall be made by certified mail, return receipt, and such notice to be made at least 30 days prior to the second hearing date. The Supervisory Officer will make report of the findings of the Ethics Committee hearing.

SECTION 3: Disposition. If upon the report of the Supervisory Officer that there is insufficient evidence to conclude a violation(s) of the Code of Ethics, the compliant will be dismissed without action. If upon the report of the Supervisory Officer that it was the judgment of the Ethics Committee that based on the evidence presented that a violation of the Code of Ethics occurred the complaint will be remanded for action. Both the complainant and the member against whom the complaint was made will be notified in writing of the result of the second hearing.

SECTION 4: Action of Board of Directors upon a finding of Code of Ethics Violation. The Board of Directors may take such disciplinary action as they deem appropriate against any member to include but not be limited to: Minor Violation-Education; repeat offense of a minor violation may be remanded as a Major Violation. Major Violation-Suspension or Expulsion. Expulsion shall be reserved for such grievous offense as to have cast the assessing profession in the negative perception of the public and other assessing
professionals. Expulsion shall be mandatory for a Breech of Ethic 4 as found by a court of competent jurisdiction. All actions other than Expulsion shall include completion of educational requirements. Expulsion shall mean to bar future membership to the Association. The actions of the Board of Directors shall be deemed binding upon all members by virtue of their membership to the Maine Association of Assessing Officers.

ADOPTED: 11/08/57
REVISED: 11/13/63
REVISED: 10/23/75
REVISED: 10/28/82
REVISED: 10/20/83
REVISED: 10/15/87
REVISED: 10/24/91
REVISED: 10/15/92
REVISED: 10/14/93
REVISED: 10/6/94
REVISED: 10/2001
REVISED:  10/2003

CODE OF ETHICS

ETHIC 1: It is will be considered a breach of this code for any MAAO member to release, reproduce, disseminate, or provide information, media or other proprietary properties legally
protected by copyright laws and/or other such information not in the public domain.

ETHIC 2: It will be considered a breach of this code for any MAAO member to conduct him or herself in a manner to intentionally discredit or cause harm upon any other person.

ETHIC 3: It will be considered a breach of this code for any MAAO member, in any writing or speech, to use the material contained in the writings or speeches of other member, persons or agencies, unless full credit is given to the original author.

ETHIC 4: It will be considered a breach of this code for any MAAO member to be found guilty of any felony by a court of competent jurisdiction.

ETHIC 5: It will be considered a breach of this code for any MAAO member to act be found to have acted contrary to that members membership to any other professional organizations Code of Ethics or to that member's licensure to any other agency of the State of Maine.

ETHIC 6: It will be considered a breach of this code for any MAAO member to accept any gift where it is clear that such gift is made solely to influence the decisions of the member.

ETHIC 7: It will be considered a breach of this code for any MAAO ember, charged by law with the responsibility for determining assessments of property, to permit a valuation to be unduly influenced by any other person or persons.

RELATIONS WITH OTHER PUBLIC OFFICIALS:

The MAAO member has a duty to ensure professionalism with other officials in all matters affecting their office and duties.

The MAAO member has a duty to interact with other public officials to improve the efficiency and economy of public administration and to maintain.

The MAAO member has a duty to maintain an attitude of respect towards other public officials and agencies to which the law has assigned official duties.

RELATIONS WITH THE PUBLIC AND TAXPAYERS:

The MAAO member will maintain at all times such attitudes and behaviors in their relations with taxpayers and the public as to instill confidence and respect to themselves, their office and their official duties. It is further their duty to compel such attitudes and behaviors on the part of their subordinates.

The MAAO member will give full faith and allegiance to their oath of office. The MAAO member will apply the laws of the State of Maine to all taxpayers alike.

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