LIMESTONE, Maine — Limestone residents will vote Tuesday, Feb. 27, on whether the town should enter into tax incentive agreements with a company who owns part of the former Loring Air Force Base.
A public hearing and special town meeting were originally scheduled for Feb. 21 but were postponed due to the public hearing notice not being posted within 10 days of its original date, said Interim Town Manager Alan Mulherin.
Both the public hearing and meeting will now be held at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 27, in the Limestone Community School auditorium.
A public hearing will be held first so that officials can explain the proposed tax increment financing districts for Green 4 Maine, the Portland-based developers who own 450 acres of Loring Commerce Center. Residents will vote after the public hearing.
Maine’s Municipal Tax Increment Financing program allows municipalities to negotiate credit enhancement agreements with developers looking to construct new businesses or expand existing ones.
Per those agreements, developers and municipalities receive a portion of a property’s increased tax value after construction or expansion is complete.
Limestone and Green 4 Maine are proposing three tax increment financing districts, with the first located on a parcel of land that Green 4 Maine already owns.
The other two districts are located on land parcels that Green 4 Maine has the option to purchase from Loring Development Authority, if they achieve certain job creation and leasing milestones.
For all three proposed districts, at least 25 percent of property must be deemed suitable for industrial and commercial development, the total area of Green 4 Maine’s property must not exceed 2 percent of the town’s total acreage and the value of taxable property on Green 4 Maine land as of April 1, 2022 cannot exceed 5 percent of the town’s total taxable property.
The third tax increment financing district would include a future potato chip processing plant that Taste of Maine, a newly formed Presque Isle-based company, plans to build at Loring. If approved by voters, Limestone would need to draft separate credit enhancement agreements with Green 4 Maine and Taste of Maine, Mulherin said.
On Wednesday, Limestone Select Board Chairperson Randy Brooker said that the board will need to approve all credit enhancement agreements before any Green 4 Maine tax increment financing districts become official.
Brooker also said that the town is still involved with lease negotiations concerning Taste of Maine’s anticipated facility.
