AUGUSTA - Rep. Dan Ankeles, D-Brunswick, presented a bill to the Legislature's Taxation Committee that would help protect access to Maine's working waterfront and provide additional property tax relief for residents of mobile homes through the Homestead Exemption.
The measure, put forward in a public hearing Wednesday, aims to help keep mobile home owners from losing their homes and to provide a boost to fishermen during a time when the core Maine industry has faced difficult conditions.
"Rising home values in towns all over Maine are causing big disruptions in how we typically spread our property tax burden, and it's hitting some Mainers harder than others," said Ankeles. "For both Maine's fishing families and for those who own mobile homes, the sharp increase in property taxes due to rising home values and the rising costs of education and local government puts them at risk of losing their homes and their livelihoods."
Ankeles' two-part proposal would create a companion to the Homestead Exemption that exempts an additional $15,000 in value for units assessed at under $100,000. This would help those living in mobile homes, a group disproportionately affected by increased property taxes in a tight housing market. Under the proposal, the state would reimburse municipalities for 100% of any lost revenue.
The bill would also strengthen the working waterfront section of the Current Land Use tax program, which provides tax relief for land designated as working waterfront, so that Mainers who use their own residence for their commercial fishing business would have a larger incentive to enroll.
"Gentrification along our coastline and rising property taxes are threatening the ability of those who work on the water to afford to live on the water, often times in houses passed down by several generations," said Jessica Joyce, a member of the Coastal and Marine Working Group of the Maine Climate Council. "Practitioners expect the frequency of loss of working waterfront property to increase due to recent storm damage. Now is the time to protect these properties and our heritage fisheries more than ever, and the Current Land Use program offers an opportunity to do just that."
This summer, Brunswick nearly experienced a major additional increase in property taxes after the town's reassessment work forecasted a significant shift of the property tax burden from commercial properties to residential properties. Because of the tight housing market, residential properties increased in value far more than other types of properties. Municipalities across the state are now facing similarly uneven revaluations.
The Legislature's Taxation Committee will hold a work session during the week of Feb. 19.
Ankeles, a member of both the Transportation Committee and the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee, is serving his first term in the Maine House and represents District 100, a central slice of Brunswick that includes downtown, the former naval airbase and Bowdoin College.
Contact:
Brian Lee [Ankeles], c. 305-965-2744
Photo: Rep. Dan Ankeles, D-Brunswick, presents his bill to protect Maines working waterfront and prevent homelessness to the Taxation Committee on Wednesday.