ROCKLAND, Maine – City residents will face a municipal referendum on the June 9 ballot to allow the city to borrow money for affordable workforce housing in addition to capital improvement projects.
The City Council voted 4-1 at its April 6 meeting to place the referendum on the ballot. Absentee ballots will be available May 9. The council received a preliminary report from the city’s housing taskforce at its April 15 meeting.
Councilor Nate Davis said this ballot question is more specific than the one rejected in November 2025.
“I think it failed in November because it was too broad a question,” Davis said.
Eric Churchill, the chair of Rockland’s Affordable Workforce Housing Task Force, said he believes the November ballot question failed because it was not clear that the bond money would go for workforce housing. He also said the lack of a housing plan in November, along with poor timing, helped doom the referendum, with the vote coming shortly after the revaluation that led to significantly higher property tax bills for homeowners.
Councilor Nicole Kalloch voted against placing the referendum on the ballot.
“I think it’s absolutely insane that we’re voting for something not defined without a plan,” Kalloch said.
Resident Julie Lewis was also critical of placing the question on the ballot.
She noted that the $10 million bond referendum approved by voters only garnered 352 votes.
When the Council asked residents in November 2025 to allow the city to borrow for any projects allowed by state law, it was rejected by 1,149 voters.
She said the current charter requiring voter approval to borrow bond money for specific projects is a “guardrail against rogue spending by rogue leaders.”
The proposed November 2025 charter change to allow the city to use bond proceeds for anything allowed under state law rather than limiting it to municipal infrastructure projects was shot down 1,349 to 975.
The charter change was sought so that the city would have more flexibility in using bond proceeds from a previously approved referendum for affordable housing. In June 2025, voters gave the city approval to borrow up to $10 million to help in the creation of “affordable workforce housing projects.” That June vote was 352 to 250.
Turnout in June 2025 was low because there were no statewide issues on the ballot. November elections draw far more voters. The June 2026 election is likely to be larger than most June elections because there are contested primaries for both the Democrats and Republicans for governor and the contested Democratic U.S. Senate race.
Ed Libby noted that when housing becomes available, such as the project on Main Street above Loyal Biscuit, they were filled immediately and a waiting list was created. The same happened when 18 units on Route 1 in Rockport opened earlier this year, he said.
The goals of the housing plan being developed is to prevent the loss of existing affordable housing, support the renewal of currently inhabitable rental units and creation of accessory dwelling units, and support the acquisition of and improvements to city-owned assets. The money can also be used to leverage other resources.
The definition of workforce housing will be discussed at the Council’s May meeting, Mayor Adam Lachman said.
The city’s consultant is recommending that the definition cover “what is realistically affordable for most jobs in Rockland (teachers, firefighters, service workers etc.) and is not supported by state and federal programs, commonly called the ‘missing middle.’”
This story appears through a media partnership with Midcoast Villager.
