Maine Will Spend $65M of Its 2023 Budget Surplus on Affordable Housing

In a continuing pattern of forecast-exceeding economic activity that has seen years of strong revenues in the state, Maine’s state government finished fiscal year 2023 with a $141 million surplus, the Portland Press Herald reports. The surplus filled the state’s budget stabilization account, or "rainy day fund," with a record high $968.3 million, Gov. Janet Mills said in a statement.

Mills, a Democrat, said an additional $65 million will be used for Maine Housing programs, with $35 million used to build affordable housing in rural areas through the Rural Affordable Housing Program and $30 million for incentives for the state's Low Income Housing Tax Credit Program.

That funding will bolster what the administration has described as “historic housing investments” in the current two-year budget, including new state funding for a housing first program, which provides stable housing to people who are chronically homeless so they can address other challenges, such as addiction or mental health issues.

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