BRUNSWICK
The U.S. Treasury Department awarded $95 million in federal tax credits to one of two Mid-coast applicants.
On Thursday, the department announced that the Wiscasset based Coastal Enterprises Inc. was awarded the $95 million in tax credits as part of the federal New Markets Tax Credit program, which allows recipients to grant a 39 percent federal tax credit, received over a period of seven years, to businesses investing in “ Community Development Entities” in what the program defines as “low-income communities.”
The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority ( MRRA) also submitted an application to the program but did not receive any of the federal tax credits.
Steve Levesque, MRRA executive director, said this year was the first that the authority charged with the redevelopment of the former Brunswick Naval Air Station submitted an application.
“We didn’t score as high as the others — that’s the way it goes sometimes,” Levesque said. “The first time that you apply is not always successful.”
Levesque said MRRA can still partner with other entities — including CEI — to grant tax credits to businesses locating at Brunswick Landing, the new civilian name for the former military property.
“We didn’t get our own allocation, but we can still partner with other allocatees,” Levesque said. “This doesn’t change the eligibility of this property for New Markets projects.”
In a press release, Sen. Olympia Snow lauded the CEI award, which she said will “help boost our state’s economy,” and said she was “disappointed” that MRRA will not receive any of the federal credits.
“MRRA’s efforts to attract job-generating businesses to the former Naval base would have been significantly bolstered by a New Markets Tax Credit allocation,” Snowe said. “As a result, I will continue to work with the U.S. Treasury to try to make this valuable financing tool available to MRRA in future funding rounds.”
Snowe and Sen. Jay Rockefeller, D-West Virginia, last year introduced a bill to extend the NMTC into 2016.
Levesque said he does not know if MRRA will submit an application again next year.
“Every year we’ll evaluate it and decide whether we want to submit a request for it or not,” Levesque said.
A total of $3.6 billion in federal tax credits was awarded to 70 organizations nationwide, according to the announcement released Thursday.
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