Maine will provide $3.5M to help seniors, disabled people pay property tax bills

File photo A new state program will help seniors and people with disabilities pay their property taxes.

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By Staff

As soaring home values in Maine drive up property tax burdens, older and disabled people on fixed incomes will be getting a lifeline through a new state program designed to help them pay those levies.

Gov. Janet Mills announced this week that her administration is launching the State Property Tax Deferral Program, which provides loans through the Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan to cover the annual property tax bills of eligible Maine people — those who are age 65 or older or are permanently disabled and who cannot afford to pay the taxes on their own.

The goal is to allow Maine’s most vulnerable community members to age in place and ensure that property taxes are still delivered to municipalities, according to a news release.

The program, funded with $3.5 million from the federal American Rescue Plan, requires repayment of the loan once the property is sold or becomes part of an estate.

In order to sustain the program beyond the original allocation of federal funds, any property tax bills covered by the program will be repaid when the property is sold or becomes part of an estate.

It complements an additional Maine Jobs & Recovery Plan investment of $60 million to build more housing. Together, the initiatives are expected to help address Maine’s surging real estate market, which is making housing more difficult to afford and has threatened to displace renters, working-class families, older Mainers and those who are permanently disabled from stable housing opportunities.

The program is modeled on a similar expired program from the 1990s.

“Older Mainers and those with disabilities deserve to live and age in the comfort of their homes without worrying they’ll lose them because they can’t afford the property taxes,” said Mills said in the release.

“My Administration will continue to work with the Legislature to address property taxes, increase the availability of housing, and ensure that all Maine people, regardless of age or income, are able to have a safe, stable place to call home in our state.”

Kirsten Figueroa, commissioner of the Department of Administrative and Financial Services, said the program could help people disabled with no other option for paying their property taxes.

“We are working with Maine municipalities to process applications and payments for the current tax year,” said Figueroa.

State Sen. Donna Bailey, D-York, said she’s heard from many residents that their property taxes are too high and getting higher.

“This problem is particularly difficult for retired and disabled Mainers who are on fixed incomes,” Bailey said.

Jess Maurer, executive director of the Maine Council on Aging, said the program was “an ingenious solution” to the problem and added that many older Mainers on fixed incomes have to leave their homes because they cannot afford the property taxes.

James Bennett, president of the Maine Municipal Association and Biddeford’s city manager, noted the program will avoid shifting additional burdens onto other property taxpayers.

The program builds on previous state initiatives designed to increase housing opportunities for older Mainers, including a $15 million senior housing bond signed in 2019.

Eligibility criteria include owner-occupied, primary residences so long as the owner is aged 65 or older and/or permanently disabled, earns less than $40,000 per year, and has liquid assets below $50,000, or below $75,000 if applying jointly. For more information, click here.