BANGOR, Maine (WABI) – The Bangor City Council has hit pause on a plan to fund a major new housing initiative.
Councilors voted 8-1 Monday to postpone an order backing “Project Hope” until their Sept. 28 meeting.
The collaborative effort with Maine Housing aims to help unhoused individuals secure stable living conditions.
The plan calls for $300,000 from Maine Housing, matched by $126,000 in unspent opioid settlement funds from the city.
The public also had a chance to comment on the action.
While there was support expressed for the end goal of the project, some argued that Bangor taxpayers shouldn’t foot the bill, questioning Portland’s model, and some objected to using opioid relief funds for housing.
One resident said the city should reconsider using opioid settlement money for the initiative.
“The city has limited opioid settlement funds and I believe we need to be very careful about using that money for programs that are primarily addressing broader issues such as homelessness and housing navigation. The proposal would fund housing navigators, a program coordinator, operational expenses, security deposits, landlord incentives, transportation, and other housing-related costs. Those are important services, but they are not necessarily specific to treating or preventing opioid use disorder,” the resident said.
“The $126,000 from unassigned funds is taxpayer supportive money, no matter how you slice it, it comes with the taxpayers. I think we could better use this money. Once that $126,000 is gone into Project Hope, it is gone. You cannot later say that the settlement was reserved for people with substance use disorder. If Project Hope is worth doing, fund the match like a housing program,” said another resident.
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