Working waterfront businesses could get a 30% tax credit to protect properties from storm damage under a bill proposed by Maine Sen. Angus King.
The incentive would have a one million dollar investment cap on improvements that support commercial fishing, boat yards and other marine businesses. Businesses would be expected to make investments that help prevent major damage from natural disasters.
King introduced the measure with Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican from Louisiana. Funding to lessen storm impacts is cheaper than paying for recovery, King said.
"Again, the basic idea is let’s spend some money preventing damage rather than more money dealing with it after it happens," King said.
Kim Hamilton, president of the Island Institute said the proposal would offer critical funding to small businesses preparing for more intense weather driven by human-caused climate change. Devastating storms this winter underscored waterfront vulnerabilities but were overshadowed by urgent rebuilding, Hamilton said.
"The tax credits that are included in this bill give the small working waterfront businesses the opportunity to really do the kind of advance planning we couldn’t do in the immediate aftermath of the January storm," she added.
Maine recently granted $21 million to dozens of working waterfronts to rebuild from the storms this winter.
