Housing question approved Piscataquis County voters buck state trend

Bill Vandegrift of Bangor, who did not disclose how he voted on Question 1 on Tuesday, said he does not believe there is a housing crisis in Maine.

A number of voters in central and eastern Maine happen to agree with him.

With 93 percent of the state’s 661 precincts reporting, 57.9 percent of voters approved Question 1, which would provide $10 million to address what the ballot calls “the affordable housing crisis in Maine” and another $2 million to find new housing for victims of domestic violence.

In Piscataquis and Washington counties, however, voters were saying no to spending the money. In Hancock, Penobscot and Waldo counties, voters were approving the measure but by small margins.

The $12 million in bond money would be matched by an additional $20 million to $30 million in private and federal funds to preserve, rehabilitate, repair or develop 460 to 600 units for low-income individuals and families, according to the Maine State Housing Authority.

MSHA estimates that the economic benefit of the combined funds would multiply to include $18 million to $20 million in income for construction jobs, and $60 million to $66 million in construction sales, service purchases and retail-wholesale purchases.

After voting at Mary Snow School, Vandegrift said that when he reads the newspaper every day, he sees a lot of housing vacancies listed in the classified section.

“I don’t see why there’s a crying need for more housing,” he said.

Vandegrift said he’s concerned about where $10 million of the $12 million would be spent. He also said he believes landlords and developers would profit from the bond issue.

“There’s the big problem,” Vandegrift said. “These are all subsidized housing. They’re all going to be rentals. Somebody’s going to make money off this.”

Because the state has no specific plans for exactly where the bond money will be spent, some people have expressed concerns that too much of the funding would be funneled to southern Maine, where the cost of housing has skyrocketed.

Like Vandegrift, Cleo Winningham of Bangor had the same concerns about Question 1, but he voted for it anyway.

Winningham said he would have liked to know exactly where and how the $10 million for affordable housing would be spent.

“To be honest with you, you never know where the money’s going to go,” Winningham said.

He said that “hopefully” the money would be used to solve some of the affordable housing issues in the state. But he said he’s realistic about it, too.

“You’ll never solve it all,” Winningham said.

MSHA Director Michael Finnegan said Tuesday night that those concerns are simple misunderstandings. He said the MSHA has a proven track record of allocating money equitably throughout the state.

Finnegan said the agency would hold several hearings statewide and review proposals by developers and groups before an approval-scoring committee selects those projects that do the most good for the least amount. Funding would be awarded as either grants or low-interest loans.

“I think we’re going to see good results from the money,” he said.

Finnegan, however, said he agreed with Vandegrift that voters in some parts of the state may not think there’s a lack of affordable housing in their areas.

“They may have felt that the crisis wasn’t as severe there,” he said.