The two candidates for South Portland’s District 4 City Council seat say property taxes and the housing shortage are among the top challenges the city currently faces.

Incumbent Steven Riley is being challenged by Jessica Walker for the District 4 seat for a three-year term.

Riley is an accountant by trade and has served on the city’s Economic Development Committee. As a councilor, he serves on the Bike/Pedestrian Advisory Committee and Transit Advisory Committee. Walker serves on the South Portland Library Advisory Board and Waste Reduction Committee and has a master’s degree in public policy, planning and administration from the University of Southern Maine.

Both candidates say they plan to address the housing shortage in the city and region.

Riley

Riley said attracting developers to build in South Portland is key.

“A shortage of attainable housing is a huge issue in South Portland,” he said. “I would look at our ordinances and building codes and recommend changes to make South Portland more attractive and competitive for people to build homes here.”

Walker said the city needs to create programs to “close the gap between market rate and workforce housing.”

“We need incentives for developers and builders to create more modest-priced homes,” she said. “We need to look at what can be done at the state and federal level to stabilize the cost of materials and overall construction. We need to attract projects that are going to focus on sustainable and affordable homes, not luxury condos.”

Taxes are a concern for many voters, especially after a citywide revaluation this summer.

Walker

Walker said the council needs to work with its legislators at the state level.

“Focusing on things like increasing revenue sharing, increasing the homestead exemption, and limiting the amount of increased assessed value on primary residences will go a long way to helping,” she said, and the city needs to “reassess how we tax things like the oil tanks” and generate more economic growth to balance the burden currently being put on homeowners.

Homeowners now take on 71.3% of the city’s tax burden compared to roughly 60% in 2019, according to the citywide property revaluation. Riley said generating more commercial taxes is a great approach to take the burden off of residents, as well as bringing in new residents to spread out that burden.

“I would work diligently to increase our commercial and residential tax base to help lower the property tax burden for our residents,” he said.

Coastal and climate resiliency is another major challenge for South Portland, and both candidates said they would uphold One Climate Future, a joint plan between the cities of South Portland and Portland that contains strategies and benchmarks to combat climate change and heighten climate resiliency.

Walker said another priority of hers is increasing public access across the board.

“We need to increase access in South Portland: access to housing, to education, to transportation, to our community, and to varied resources and information our residents need,” Walker said.

Riley said he wants to find ways to get more community members of all demographics engaged to provide input and help the city tackle its challenges.

“I would encourage more involvement from our community members, especially our younger residents,” he said. “The more people we get involved, the more people we have helping make South Portland a great place to live.”

Voting across the city will take place from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Nov. 5. District 1 residents will vote at the Boys and Girls Club, 169 Broadway; District 2 residents will vote at the American Legion Stewart P. Morrill Post 35, 413 Broadway; residents of District 3 and 4 will vote at the South Portland Community Center, 21 Nelson Road; and District 5 residents will vote at the Redbank Community Center, 95 Macarthur Circle West.

For more information on voting such as how to register and determine which district you live in, go to the city’s website, southportland.gov, and navigate to the Elections and Voter Registration page. The Clerk’s Office can be reached at 767-3201 for additional questions.