Sen. Cameron Reny’s bill to create tax incentives to increase the supply of affordable housing in Maine receives unanimous committee support

AUGUSTA – On Wednesday, March 19, the Joint Standing Committee on Taxation voted unanimously to advance LD 554, “An Act to Encourage Resident-owned Communities and Cooperatives and Preserve Affordable Housing Through Tax Credits.” The bill, sponsored by Sen. Cameron Reny, D-Bristol, would create tax incentives to encourage the sale of mobile home parks and other multi-unit housing developments to resident-owned cooperatives or cooperative affordable housing corporations. This legislation would help preserve affordable housing options throughout the state.

“I am excited that the entire committee supports LD 554, which would give residents a leg up when they try to buy their homes,” said Sen. Reny. “We need to work together across the state and across party lines to preserve affordable housing options, especially mobile homes and manufactured housing parks, whose tenants deserve to be secure in their housing. I hope the Legislature will continue to support this important measure to ease our state’s housing crisis.”

LD 554 creates a tax deduction to incentivize the sale or transfer of housing developments, housing parks or apartment complexes to resident-owned communities or cooperative affordable housing corporations. This bill allows for an income tax exemption of up to $750,000 on capital gains from these transfers. LD 554 also outlines the performance measures that would be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the tax deductions in meeting the goal of preserving Maine’s affordable housing supply.

LD 554 now faces votes in the Senate and House.

Sen. Reny represents Maine Senate District 13, which includes most of Lincoln County and the towns of Washington and Windsor.

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