MaineHousing has awarded $13.4 million in state subsidies for the construction of 129 new affordable rental units in Portland and Lewiston.
But the housing agency warns these projects could be the last of their kind for some time, because state funding that helped subsidize new affordable housing construction has dried up. Those programs include Maine's Affordable Homeownership Program, the Rural Affordable Rental Housing Program and Maine's affordable housing tax credit.
Together, those programs have added nearly 900 new homes for rent or purchase over the last few years, according to MaineHousing.
Without more funding for these programs, the state could lose momentum in boosting its housing supply, said Laura Mitchell, the executive director of the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition.
Laura Mitchell with the Maine Affordable Housing Coalition says the state could lose momentum in boosting its housing supply, without more funding for these programs.
"There's going to be [fewer] projects getting built for sure," she said. "So the production of homes will decrease. We'd love to see a housing bond be discussed, but as we reach the end of the last few days [of the Legislature] here we're really not sure that's going to happen."
A proposed restructuring of Maine's real estate transfer tax could provide some permanent funding for the state's affordable housing subsidies, Mitchell said. That measure is part of the latest budget proposal that Democrats in the Legislature have advanced. But the budget has a host of potentially controversial items and faces more debate this week in Augusta.
In addition, Mitchell said the revenue that real estate transfer tax reform would raise for Maine's affordable housing subsidies programs will pale in comparison to the tens of millions of dollars that the state has invested in recent years.
The last projects approved for Maine tax credits will help finance the construction of nearly 90 new homes in two different buildings in Lewiston. The Developers Collaborative received funds for a 41-unit project in Portland.
