Maine
Maine lawmakers propose costly compromise on property taxes
The top Democrat and Republican in the Maine Senate are backing a property tax relief compromise that may run into cost-related hurdles in a tight state budget environment.
The proposal from Senate President Mattie Daughtry, D-Brunswick, is sponsored by Senate Minority Leader Trey Stewart, R-Presque Isle, House Speaker Ryan Fecteau, D-Biddeford, and several other members from both parties. It would increase the maximum property tax fairness credit from $1,500 to $2,000 for taxpayers younger than 65 and from $2,000 to $2,500 for taxpayers 65 and older.
It would also establish a property tax relief task force with 13 voting members and at least two nonvoting members that would use data collected at the local, county, state and national levels and make recommendations by Dec. 15 on improving the property tax process and reducing Maine’s tax burden. That could include changing laws and the Maine Constitution, per the bill.
Lawmakers on Wednesday referred the bill to the Legislature’s tax committee, with a public hearing not yet scheduled and a fiscal note also not yet available. But while likely popular among Mainers, the $500 increase in the tax credit available to homeowners and renters who meet certain income limits may struggle to receive funding as Gov. Janet Mills and the Democratic-controlled Legislature debate how much spending to add to the $11.3 billion budget that left only about $127 million in unspent revenue through 2027.
Still, the partnership between Daughtry and Stewart is notable after their two caucuses clashed and failed to reach agreement earlier this year on a short-term budget to fill a $118 million MaineCare shortfall. The cost of housing is one of Maine’s most pressing issues.
Democrats ended up passing another spending deal without GOP votes, and Mills has previously bickered with members of her own party over not signing bills she argued were too costly in a tight fiscal environment. Mills proposed a cigarette tax hike and cuts to various health and child care programs in January to close a projected $450 million shortfall through 2027.
Daughtry said Maine families “are getting squeezed harder every year by rising property taxes, and it’s time we hit pause and asked, why?”
“We need to dig into the root of this cycle — and break it,” Daughtry said in a statement. “Other states have found solutions that work, and it’s high time Maine did too. Taxpayers deserve both short-term help and a long-term fix.”
Lawmakers repealed in 2023 a popular but increasingly expensive property tax freeze program from Stewart and replaced it by boosting the property tax credit for older Mainers from $1,500 to $2,000 and expanding income and asset limits on a loan program in which the state covers property taxes for older or permanently disabled residents in need of help.
Maine Municipal Association spokesperson Kate Dufour said although the group has not released its position on the new fairness credit bill, it has supported similar ideas in the past and also appreciates a task force including municipal officials as members.
“It is a good way to deliver property tax relief to those who need it the most, and without shifting burdens to other property taxpayers, as exemptions do,” Dufour said.
Members have put forward an array of other property tax relief bills this session, with no major breakthroughs amid lawmakers trying to adjourn by mid-June. One idea from Sen. Joe Baldacci, D-Bangor, who is also cosponsoring the proposed fairness credit increase, is a 2 percent annual cap on property tax assessment increases for residents 65 and older, but that and other proposals to boost the state’s homestead exemption all face uncertainty given the budget constraints.
But lawmakers said the budget should prioritize housing affordability in Maine. Baldacci said Wednesday he has supported or sponsored numerous property tax relief proposals because he has spoken with homeowners, especially older ones, who have “clearly communicated that this is one of the most important issues they face on making ends meet in this economy.”
Many Maine municipalities will open cooling centers this week with the National Weather Service issuing a variety of heat advisories covering the next few days.
The Maine DEP also issued an air quality alert for Wednesday with ground-level ozone expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
All of York County, interior Cumberland and Androscoggin counties, and the southern half of Oxford County will fall under an extreme heat warning from 11 a.m. Wednesday to 8 p.m. Friday.
The warning calls for “dangerously hot conditions” that could feature heat index values of up to 110 degrees, with overnight lows only expected to fall into the 70s, according to the weather service’s office in Gray.
The rest of the state — save northern Aroostook, Piscataquis and Somerset counties — falls under a heat advisory from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday. However, the weather service has also placed much of the state under an extreme heat watch for Thursday.
Heat index values, which measure how hot it feels to the human body when relative humidity is combined with the air temperature, are expected to reach up to 104 degrees during the heat advisory period, the weather service warns. They could reach 110 degrees Thursday, when the extreme heat watch is in effect.
Northern Oxford and Franklin counties, and central Somerset County, can expect a heat index value of up to 99 degrees Wednesday, according to the weather service.
The weather service advises people to drink plenty of fluids, stay in air-conditioned rooms when possible, avoid extended periods in the sun and check up on relatives and neighbors. It also warns not to leave young children and pets in unattended vehicles, as “car interiors will reach lethal temperatures in a matter of minutes.”
Cooling Centers
The Maine Department of Environmental Protection has also issued an air quality alert from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m. on Wednesday along the coast from Kittery to Acadia National Park. The agency warns that ground-level ozone concentrations are expected to reach levels that are unhealthy for sensitive groups.
Ozone levels may reach “moderate levels” further inland, according to the Maine DEP, including in all of Androscoggin and Kennebec counties, as well as parts of Cumberland, Knox, Lincoln, Penobscot, Sagadahoc, Waldo, Washington and York counties.
Elevated ozone levels can pose a risk to children, older adults and people suffering from respiratory or heart diseases, according to the Maine DEP. Anyone exerting themselves outdoors may also experience health effects, which could include coughing, shortness of breath, throat irritation and mild chest pain.
Ozone levels were already climbing in southern New England on Tuesday, according to the Maine DEP, and winds are expected to bring those conditions to Maine on Wednesday.
The Maine DEP recommends that vulnerable populations avoid strenuous outdoor activities, keep windows closed, and circulate indoor air with fans or air conditioners. Those with asthma are also advised to keep quick-relief medication handy.
Particle pollution levels are also expected to be moderate across the state on Wednesday due to wildfire smoke, the Maine DEP said in its announcement Tuesday. Wildfires in Colorado, which have claimed the lives of three firefighters, had burned nearly 90,000 acres as of Tuesday, according to the Denver Post.
Maine could face up to $50 million in penalties next year due to errors in its payments for federal food benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Newly released data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture find that Maine’s error rate last year was nearly 11%, the bulk of which were overpayments. That’s in line with the U.S. average. But starting in October of next year, states with error rates above 6% must cover a portion of the SNAP benefits.
Anna Korsen, executive director of Full Plates, Full Potential, said the overpayments aren’t fraud — they’re human error. She said this new cost-shifting policy enacted last year under the Trump administration further complicates the SNAP application process.
“Instead, we could make this program more accessible and more efficient,” Korsen said. “And that would reduce the number of errors and also ensure that Mainers who are eligible for SNAP have access to it.”
She’s urging Congress to delay or reverse the policy under the farm bill that’s currently under consideration.
Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services said it’s taking steps to reduce the error rate, including modernizing its systems and hiring an additional 40 eligibility specialists.
This story appears through a media partnership with Maine Public.
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