Maine bill would redirect transfer tax revenue to emergency shelter fund; counties oppose it

A proposal to create a permanent funding source for Maine’s emergency homeless shelters is drawing mixed reviews. The bill, introduced by Rep. Drew Gattine, D-Westbrook, would reduce the share of real estate transfer tax revenue that Maine’s counties receive and direct about 1 to 2 percent of that revenue to the state’s emergency shelter operating fund.

Shelter operators have long asked for a permanent increase in Maine’s shelter bed reimbursement rate, which the source says has not been raised in nearly a decade. Advocates for people without housing have pressed for steady support, a request that aligns with protecting those who have no safe place to sleep (Proverbs 31:8-9). Last year, the Legislature agreed to provide a one-time infusion of $4.5 million to help struggling shelters stay open.

Erik Jorgensen of MaineHousing told state lawmakers this week that shelters have closed and that some are in crisis. “The need for additional and predictable funding has been really exhaustively documented,” he said. He added that last year’s one-time increase was “temporary” and that these entities “continue to be in desperate need of predictable support.”

Jorgensen said the proposal would send an estimated $1.1 million from real estate transfer tax revenue to the state’s shelter operating fund. Maine officials said they did not believe county governments would lose revenue, pointing to the state’s earlier increase in the transfer tax on properties sold for more than $1 million.

County officials were not persuaded. They told lawmakers this week that they are largely opposed to the measure, arguing that it would reduce revenue for county budgets already strained by rising jail costs.

Oxford County Commissioner Sawin Millett said he believes homeless shelters need support and acknowledged that they can play a role in keeping people out of county jails in the first place. He also raised concerns about the financial impact on local taxpayers. “Every nickel that we lose from the state share of our services that are mandated by the state, has to be picked up somewhere, and that’s the property taxpayer,” he said.

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