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The state will receive 72 percent more money than last year, and has changed its guidelines and benefit.

By NOEL K. GALLAGHER Staff Writer October 22, 2008

More Mainers will qualify for a federal program that provides heating oil assistance for low-income households, after state officials loosened income eligibility requirements on Tuesday.

As a result of new funding formulas, more people will be covered, poorer people will have a greater amount of their heating bills paid and the average benefit will increase almost $200, officials said.

The federal government has expanded the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP, this year. Of the $5 billion being distributed nationwide, Maine will get nearly $80 million, a 72 percent increase over the $46 million it received in 2007.

At the same time, the federal government has allowed states to relax income eligibility to provide assistance to more people.

On Tuesday, the Board of Commissioners for MaineHousing, which administers LIHEAP funding, voted to expand general eligibility from 170 percent of the federal poverty level -- or $17,680 for an individual -- to 200 percent of the federal poverty level -- or $20,800 for an individual.

They also created a sliding- scale formula that provides more LIHEAP aid for people at the lower end of the economic scale, MaineHousing Director Dale McCormick said.

"We wanted to include as many people as possible and still target a really meaningful benefit to really low-income people," McCormick said.

Those at the lower end of the scale will have more than 80 percent of their total heating need met with LIHEAP funds, while those at the higher end will have about 40 percent covered, she said.

"We have never before achieved that degree of meeting the need for the lower end," McCormick said. "We used to treat everyone all in one group, but they are very different. We have more surgically parsed it, and it is much more progressive, much more fair."

The commissioners also approved a plan to provide LIHEAP funding to Mainers earning between 200 percent and 230 percent of the federal poverty level if they are in danger of hypothermia, such as the elderly or families with children under the age of 2.

For an individual, that translates to income between $20,800 and $23,920.

For a family of four, that translates to income between $42,400 and $48,760.

Because of the targeted distribution, McCormick said her agency calculates that the average LIHEAP benefit will increase to $940, from $757 last year.

MaineHousing expects to help about 72,000 households this year, compared to about 50,000 last year.

About 10,000 households have already been approved for LIHEAP aid, and the first checks to those households' fuel providers were scheduled to be mailed out today.

Staff Writer Noel K. Gallagher can be contacted at 791-6387 or at ngallagher@pressherald.com