Report: Lawmakers didn't foresee issues with tax-credits program
The lack of financial expertise within the state Legislature makes it vulnerable to outside investors orchestrating deals that would allow them to reap millions in tax credits for investments that mostly consist of one-day loans, a report has found.
State Sen. Roger Katz told the Maine Sunday Telegram that he’s sorry for voting on the creation of the Maine New Markets Capital Investment Program, which allows investors to inflate the amount of tax credits they receive through the use of one-day loans.
“Collectively all the various parties involved in this ought to get an F for what happened, and that certainly includes the Legislature,” Katz said.
The newspaper revealed that $64.4 million of the total investments made under the program came in the form of one-day loans, and investors are set to receive $38.5 million of that back in tax credits. That includes the Great Northern Paper mill deal, which is giving investors back nearly $16 million in tax credits for a $40 million investment that was mostly a one-day loan.
Julia Sass Rubin, a Rutgers University professor, told the newspaper that state lawmakers’ lack of financial expertise makes them vulnerable to outside firms that are pushing for the creation of tax-credits programs that disproportionately benefit investors.
Source: Maine Sunday Telegram
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