LePage lifts ban limiting affordable housing bonds
Gov. Paul LePage has lifted a ban that has for the past two years prohibited the Maine State Housing Authority from issuing certain bonds to support construction of affordable housing units.
The Portland Press Herald reported the authority will now begin reviewing a list of 56 pending projects, estimated at a cost of $218 million, to see which should be first in line for up to $120 million in federally subsidized, tax-exempt bonds that the authority expects to issue over the next three years.
The bonds allow an investor to receive a 4% federal income tax credit. A separate program that allows privately financed projects to compete for around $3 million in 9% federal income tax credits has continued to operate over the past two years.
The governor stopped authorizing the 4% tax-exempt bonds in early 2011, which he said was part of an effort to control the state’s debt. The Associated General Contractors of Maine told the paper that the decision caused delay or cancellation of many housing projects in the state. The need is projected to be particularly dire in the realm of senior housing, where an estimated 8,000 additional units will be needed by 2015.
The paper reported the housing authority will approve at least $40 million in new and renovated rental housing projects for low-income families and seniors in the coming months.
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