It's called the Pine Tree Development Zone Program, and it offers businesses in Maine a number of incentives, including a sales tax exemption, an income tax credit, and enrollment in a program that reimburses a company a percentage of employee wages, per the Portland Press Herald.
But some say it doesn't work, and the state is asking lawmakers to extend it for another five years.
"There is a big division among some people who believe it works and some people who believe it doesn't," says Rep.
Michael Fitzpatrick.
"I would like, if people ask me, to be able to give them an answer or a place to look."
The state's economic and community development commissioner says the Mills administration is working on revamping the program, and a bill to make changes will come before the Legislature in the coming weeks, per Spectrum News.
The department's tax incentive policy manager says about 130 businesses are enrolled in the program, with businesses reporting they received about $14 million in benefits in 2021, per the Maine Department of Economic and Community Development.
The program offers to cover the entire state, then retracted to cover all areas except York and Cumberland counties.
"When Mathews Brothers Windows decided to expand to Hermon, the company took advantage of the state's
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