Maine Will Spend $65M of Its 2023 Budget Surplus on Affordable Housing

In a continuing pattern of forecast-exceeding economic activity that has seen years of strong revenues in the state, Maine’s state government finished fiscal year 2023 with a $141 million surplus, the Portland Press Herald reports. The surplus filled the state’s budget stabilization account, or "rainy day fund," with a record high $968.3 million, Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement.

Mills, a Democrat, said an additional $65 million will be used for Maine Housing programs, with $35 million used to build affordable housing in rural areas through the Rural Affordable Housing Program and $30 million for incentives for the state's Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program.

That funding will bolster what the administration has described as “historic housing investments” in the current two-year budget, including new state funding for a housing first program, which provides stable housing to people who are chronically homeless so they can address other challenges, such as addiction or mental health issues.

PB Topical Ref

Affordability

Housing Policy + Finance

features