by WGME
April 11th, 2022
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PORTLAND (WGME) -- An unprecedented number of asylum seekers and people experiencing homelessness in Portland could lead to a huge tax hike or a drastic cut in city services.
The Portland City Council will meet about the crisis Monday, even putting off talking about the city budget as they search for solutions.
Interim City Manager Danielle West is hoping state funding comes through to lower Portland's burden to house and care for asylum seekers and people who are homeless.
She says if not, the city may have no choice but to take some drastic measures.
Right now, Portland is seeing record numbers of people needing emergency shelter, about 1,500 a night, from asylum seekers to people experiencing homelessness.
The city is using 12 hotels in six communities to shelter them all at a cost that's expected to exceed $44 million next year.
"We are a caring community," Reza Jalali of the Greater Portland Immigrant Welcome Center said. "We just can't have unhoused people freeze to death outside."
Jalali says despite the expense, asylum seekers fill a workforce need in Maine.
"We need them,” Jalali said. In a state with a declining population, aging population, low birth rate, this is the future's workforce."
Under state law, cities and towns must care for asylum seekers and the homeless.
The state pays 70 percent and Portland pays 30 percent to house asylum seekers and the homeless.
FEMA had been paying Portland's 30 percent, but that federal funding is set to end in June.
If you don’t get any state or federal funding, you’re looking at some pretty grim choices.
"Correct,” West said. “We will have potentially as much as $13 million or more to cut from the city budget.”
The other option to fund the $13 million shortfall is raising Portland’s property taxes 15 percent.
The Napolitano family's property taxes already went up about 25 percent when their home was revalued. They can't imagine it going up another 15 percent.
"I don't know,” Portland homeowner Danny Napolitano said. “I just feel like it's another increased cost for anybody who wants to stay here in Portland. And it's making it harder and harder just to live everyday life and support a home."
West is delaying her budget proposal another month and keeping her fingers crossed that the state or federal government eases some of the burden.
"We are waiting to see how the supplemental budget plays out in Augusta in order to know what the next steps will be,” West said.
Former Mayor and State Rep. Michael Brennan's bill would increase reimbursement from the state up to 90 percent in communities like Portland that reach a threshold of general assistance spending.
Governor Janet Mills has also proposed $22 million to create an emergency housing relief fund to address homelessness, including providing rental assistance or appropriate housing for those staying in hotels.