Maine State Housing Authority is using the lure of grant dollars to entice affordable housing developers to build smoke-free.

Using a tactic tried only by California, MSHA is giving developers one added point on their competitive project scores if they agree to keep units and courtyards smoke-free and offer access to smoking cessation classes.

Spokesman Dan Simpson said MSHA promised $24 million in tax credits to five projects this year, from Veazie to Scarborough. Tax credits amount to a grant developers can sell to others.

“There’s over 100 points in the scoring system. It’s not make or break but it helps,” he said.

Ninety-eight new rental units built with Qualify Allocation Plan funds this year have been pledged smoke-free through the program.

The incentive doesn’t affect existing units.

Tina Pettingill, Smoke-Free Housing Coalition of Maine, applauded the measure. Her group works with landlords statewide to voluntarily switch over and adopt non-smoking policies.

“It’s a very financially sound move,” Pettingill said.

She said it costs two to six times as much to turnover the apartment of a smoker versus a nonsmoker, between smell seeped into paint and burn holes in carpet and linoleum.

– Kathryn Skelton