Maine § 974-A. - State loans

§ 974-A.. State loans

1.  State loans.  State loans are subject to the following conditions.

A. No state loan for any project under this article, the total cost of which exceeds $150,000, may exceed 45% of the project cost and no state loan may be provided for such a project unless the applicant demonstrates a commitment of private funds of at least 10% of the total cost of the project, except that, in order to encourage the undertaking of cooperative projects by 2 or more farmers, no state loan for such a project may exceed 50% of the total cost of the project and no state loan may be provided unless the cooperating farmers as a group demonstrate a commitment of private funds of at least 5% of the total cost of the project.   [PL 2017, c. 6, §1 (AMD).]

B. No state loan for any project under this article, the total cost of which is $150,000 or less, may exceed 55% of the total cost of the project.   [PL 2017, c. 6, §1 (AMD).]

C. State loans must be at the interest rate established pursuant to subsection 2‑A.   [PL 2021, c. 31, §1 (AMD).]

D. Other terms and conditions prescribed by rule by the board.   [PL 2021, c. 560, §7 (AMD).]

2.  State loan interest rate. 

2-A.  State loan interest rate.  The interest rate for state loans is the federal prime rate on the date of loan commitment but may not be greater than 5%. Loans current on the effective date of this subsection may be refinanced at the borrower's request to an interest rate of the federal prime rate but not greater than 5%.

A fee for administrative costs, which must be at a rate set by rule by the board but may not exceed 1% of the loan, must be charged on a loan made for a project the total cost of which exceeds $50,000. This fee must be deposited in the fund.  

3.  Approval of loans and grants.  The commissioner has authority to approve all loans and grants from the fund.