After years of neglect and years of cuts, I am proud to say that my Administration and the Maine Legislature have fully restored revenue sharing to our towns and cities, as the voters demanded a long time ago.
Hello, this is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.
Maine law has long required that state government send revenue back to the municipalities in order to help finance important services — like police, fire, emergency medical services, public education, parks, libraries, safe roads, and clean water supplies. Without that state revenue, a town would have to rely solely on the property taxes to provide those important services.
Well for more than a decade, state government simply failed to meet its responsibility to send 5 percent of our revenues back to the cities and towns across Maine. Under the previous administration, revenue sharing was reduced and it was held flat at a meager 2 percent.
So when I took office, I worked with the Legislature to increase revenue sharing every year — from 3 percent in Fiscal Year 2020, to 3.75 percent the next year, to 4.5 percent in Fiscal Year 2022, and now to the full 5 percent required by law in Fiscal Year 2023.
If we had kept revenue sharing at 2 percent this year, municipalities would have gotten $140 million less in revenue. That would force them to drive up your property taxes to pay for services you rely on.
Following the law and restoring revenue sharing is more than just good governance. It’s an important step to protect Maine people who can least afford an increase in their property taxes, including many of our seniors.
To keep taxes low, my Administration has also worked with the Legislature to deliver direct tax relief to thousands of Maine families in many other ways.
- We created a property tax deferral program for eligible people over 65 who can’t afford to pay those taxes on their own.
- We expanded the Homestead Exemption to allow eligible people to take $25,000 off the value of their home and only pay property taxes on the remaining amount.
- We increased tax relief for retirees from $10,000 to $35,000 by the year 2024.
- We improved the Property Tax Fairness Credit to allow 100,000 property owners and renters to get a refundable tax credit of up to $1,000 and a $1,500 credit for seniors.
- We increased Maine’s Earned Income Tax Credit by an average of $400 per family to keep people from falling into poverty.
- And, we provided $2,500 a year in student loan debt relief through the Education Opportunity Tax Credit — one of the most generous tax credit programs in the country for student debt relief. This also helps employers draw people from all walks of life to work and live in the State of Maine.
My Administration will continue to work with the Maine Legislature in a bipartisan manner to strengthen municipal services and deliver tax relief to Maine people while keeping them safe and fully funding police, fire, and emergency services and the like.
This is Governor Janet Mills and thank you for listening.