An Act to Limit Municipal Impact Fees on Housing Development
Maine Legislature, Session 132, LD 1498
Committee: State and Local Government
Sponsors: FAULKINGHAM, BRADSTREET, FECTEAU
Amends: 30-A MRSA §4354

Legislative Document
No. 1498
H.P. 982
House of Representatives, April 8, 2025
An Act to Limit Municipal Impact Fees on Housing Development
Reference to the Committee on State and Local Government suggested and ordered printed.
ROBERT B. HUNT
Clerk
Presented by Representative FAULKINGHAM of Winter Harbor.
Cosponsored by Senator BRADSTREET of Kennebec and
Representatives: BOYER of Poland, CHAPMAN of Auburn, Speaker FECTEAU of 
Biddeford, GERE of Kennebunkport, MINGO of Calais, MORRIS of Turner, Senators: 
BENNETT of Oxford, STEWART of Aroostook.
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1.  30-A MRSA §4354, first ¶, as repealed and replaced by PL 1991, c. 722, 
§8 and affected by §11, is amended to read:
A Subject to the requirements and restrictions set forth in this section, a municipality 
may enact an ordinance under its home rule authority requiring the construction of off-site 
capital infrastructure improvements or the payment of impact fees instead of the 
construction of infrastructure improvements.  Notwithstanding section 3442, subsection 2, 
an impact fee may be imposed that results in a developer or developers paying the entire 
cost of an infrastructure improvement.  A municipality may impose an impact fee either 
before or after completing the infrastructure improvement.  The municipality shall establish 
a policy document, accessible at the office of the municipality or on the publicly accessible 
website of the municipality, that describes the manner by which the municipality 
determines that a development necessitates an infrastructure improvement and how the 
developer's share of the cost of that improvement is determined.
Sec. 2.  30-A MRSA §4354, sub-§1, as amended by PL 1999, c. 776, §11, is further 
amended by enacting at the end a new first blocked paragraph to read:
The developer's share of capital improvement or impact fees must be limited to 
infrastructure improvements on land or property that directly abuts the location of the 
development.  A municipality shall demonstrate that the required infrastructure 
improvement is necessary to accommodate the development and that the impact fee is 
based on the cost of the infrastructure improvement and proportionate to the development's 
use of the infrastructure improvement.
Sec. 3.  30-A MRSA §4354, sub-§2, ¶C, as enacted by PL 1989, c. 104, Pt. A, §45 
and Pt. C, §10, is amended to read:
C.  The ordinance must establish a reasonable schedule under which the municipality 
is required to use the funds within 180 days of receipt and in a manner consistent with 
the capital investment component of the comprehensive plan.
SUMMARY
This bill amends the law that authorizes municipalities to enact ordinances requiring 
the assessment of impact fees or construction of infrastructure improvements necessary as 
the result of a development project.  The bill requires the municipality to establish a policy 
document that describes how the municipality determines that a development necessitates 
an infrastructure improvement and how the developer's share of the cost of that 
improvement is determined.  The policy document must be accessible to the public at the 
office of the municipality or on the publicly accessible website of the municipality.  The 
bill provides that the developer's share of the cost of infrastructure improvement must be 
proportionate to the development's use of the infrastructure and only for improvements on 
land or property that directly abuts the location of the development.  The bill also requires 
that any fees collected for infrastructure improvements must be used by the municipality 
within 180 days of receipt.