An Act To Modify the Tax Increment Financing Laws
Maine Legislature, Session 128, LD 1071
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: SAVIELLO, BLACK, SKOLFIELD
Amends: 30-A MRSA §5225

Legislative Document
No. 1071
S.P. 353
In Senate, March 16, 2017
An Act To Modify the Tax Increment Financing Laws
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed.
HEATHER J.R. PRIEST
Secretary of the Senate
Presented by Senator SAVIELLO of Franklin.
Cosponsored by Representatives: BLACK of Wilton, SKOLFIELD of Weld.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows: 
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §5225, sub-§1, ¶C, as amended by PL 2013, c. 184, §4, is 
further amended to read: 
C.  Costs related to economic development, environmental improvements, fisheries 
and wildlife or marine resources projects, recreational trails or employment training 
within the municipality or plantation, including, but not limited to: 
(1)  Costs of funding economic development programs or events developed by 
the municipality or plantation or funding the marketing of the municipality or 
plantation as a business or arts location; 
(2)  Costs of funding environmental improvement projects developed by the 
municipality or plantation for commercial or arts district use or related to such 
activities; 
(3)  Funding to establish permanent economic development revolving loan funds, 
investment funds and grants; 
(4)  Costs of services and equipment to provide skills development and training, 
including scholarships to in-state educational institutions or to online learning 
entities when in-state options are not available, for jobs created or retained in the 
municipality or plantation.  These costs must be designated as training funds in 
the development program and may not exceed 20% of total project costs.  
Funding priority must be given to services and equipment to provide skills 
development and training for jobs created or retained in the municipality, 
plantation or, pursuant to section 5235, unorganized territory;  
(5) Quality child care costs, including finance costs and construction, staffing, 
training, certification and accreditation costs related to child care;  
(6)  Costs associated with new or existing recreational trails determined by the 
department to have significant potential to promote economic development, 
including, but not limited to, costs for multiple projects and project phases that 
may include planning, design, construction, maintenance, grooming and 
improvements with respect to new or existing recreational trails, which may 
include bridges that are part of the trail corridor, used all or in part for all-terrain 
vehicles, snowmobiles, hiking, bicycling, cross-country skiing or other related 
multiple uses; 
(7) Costs associated with a new or expanded transit service, limited to: 
(a) Transit service capital costs, including but not limited to:  transit vehicles 
such as buses, ferries, vans, rail conveyances and related equipment; bus 
shelters and other transit-related structures; and benches, signs and other 
transit-related infrastructure; and 
(b) In the case of transit-oriented development districts, ongoing costs of 
adding to an existing transit system or creating a new transit service and 
limited strictly to transit operator salaries, transit vehicle fuel and transit 
vehicle parts replacements; and 
(8)  Costs associated with the development of fisheries and wildlife or marine 
resources projects; and 
SUMMARY 
This bill amends the development district law by capping project costs for services 
and equipment to provide skills development and training at 20% of total project costs 
and by requiring funding priority to be given to services, equipment and training for jobs 
created or retained in the municipality, plantation or unorganized territory.