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Governor Mills signs LD 2116, extends Maine affordable housing tax credit for eight years
Summary
Governor Janet Mills said she signed LD 2116 to extend Maine's affordable housing tax credit for eight years and highlighted more than $350 million authorized for housing, the preservation of 108 units, 824 units in the pipeline, zoning reforms and a mobile home park preservation fund.
Governor Janet Mills said she signed LD 2116 into law, extending Maine’s affordable housing tax credit for eight years and pressing the state’s case for expanding housing supply and preservation.
"I signed into law LD 2116 to extend Maine's landmark affordable housing tax credit," Mills said in the brief recorded statement.
Mills framed the measure as part of a broader administration push to increase the supply of homes and protect existing affordable units. She said the tax credit has helped preserve 108 units across the state and that another 824 units have been built or are currently in the pipeline for construction. As an example, she cited the town of Washburn’s use of the credit to purchase the Salmon Brook Meadows property, preserving 20 units for older adults in Aroostook County.
Mills also described larger funding and policy steps taken since she took office, saying her administration "has authorized more than $350,000,000 to build more homes," and characterizing that total as more than five times what the state spent on housing production from 2000 to 2018. She said the administration and the Legislature have enacted zoning, land-use, regulatory and permitting reforms intended to allow the private sector to build more market-rate homes.
Other measures Mills mentioned include expansions of tax-relief programs — the property tax fairness credit, the homestead exemption and the state historic rehabilitation tax credit — along with the creation of a mobile home park preservation fund intended to help residents purchase parks and avoid out-of-state acquisition and evictions. She also said the state is helping towns provide emergency housing and shelters with "wraparound services" for people who are chronically homeless.
The recorded statement did not include a date for the announcement or a detailed breakdown of the funding sources or timelines for the projects Mills described. Mills characterized stable housing as both a humanitarian priority and a cost-saving measure for communities and taxpayers.
The statement did not announce legislative votes or a timetable for additional actions; it presented the extension of the tax credit and other initiatives as steps the administration has taken or enacted.
