An Act To Improve Tax Incentives for Broadband Service
Maine Legislature, Session 129, LD 0854
Committee: Taxation
Sponsors: ACKLEY, BELLOWS, BRYANT, HIGGINS, RYKERSON, SKOLFIELD
Amends: 30-A MRSA §5225

Legislative Document
No. 854
H.P. 628
House of Representatives, February 14, 2019
An Act To Improve Tax Incentives for Broadband Service
Reference to the Committee on Taxation suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative ACKLEY of Monmouth.
Cosponsored by Senator BELLOWS of Kennebec and
Representatives: BRYANT of Windham, HIGGINS of Dover-Foxcroft, RYKERSON of 
Kittery, 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, broadband service 
development, expansion or improvement, including connecting to broadband service 
outside the tax increment financing district, 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; 
(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
(9)  Costs associated with broadband service development, expansion or 
improvement, including connecting to broadband service outside the tax 
increment financing district; and
SUMMARY
This bill expands the allowable use of tax increment financing to include 
development, expansion or improvement of broadband services, including connecting to 
broadband service outside the tax increment financing district.