An Act To Clarify the Use of Tax Increment Financing Funds for Recreational Development
Sec. 1. 30-A MRSA §5225, sub-§1, ¶C, as amended by PL 2009, c. 314, §11, is further amended to read:
(1) Costs of funding economic development programs or events developed by the municipality or funding the marketing of the municipality as a business or arts location;
(2) Costs of funding environmental improvement projects developed by the municipality for commercial or arts district use or related to such activities;
(3) Funding to establish permanent economic development revolving loan funds or investment funds;
(4) Costs of services to provide skills development and training for residents of the municipality. These costs may not exceed 20% of the total project costs and 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 relating to planning, design, construction, maintenance, grooming and improvements to 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; and
(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
summary
This bill amends the laws regarding municipal development districts to clarify that once the Department of Economic and Community Development has determined that new or existing recreational trails within a municipality have significant potential to promote economic development, the project costs for planning, design, construction, maintenance, grooming and improvements with respect to the trails, which may include bridges that are part of the trail corridor, are authorized for multiple projects or project phases related to the trails.