AUGUSTA — Governor Janet Mills announced Wednesday that her Administration will send the first round of $850 relief checks to Maine people beginning tomorrow. 

The Department of Administrative and Financial Services will issue an initial 5,000 relief checks to be sent via the U.S. Postal Service tomorrow that are expected to arrive in mailboxes as early as next week.

The Department will then issue an estimated 200,000 checks per week after that, with the vast majority of qualifying Maine people who have already filed their 2021 Maine tax return expected to receive their check by mid-July.

Despite an initial concern about a shortage of envelopes, the Treasurer’s Office has confirmed that it has a sufficient number of envelopes that can be used to distribute the checks.

The relief program is expected to help an estimated 858,000 Maine people with the high costs of inflation and, all told, more than half of the State’s budget surplus – $729.3 million – will be returned to Maine people via $850 direct checks, with the average Maine family receiving $1,700 in relief.

To be eligible to receive a check, Maine people must file a Maine individual income tax return as a full-time resident and not be claimed as a dependent on another’s tax return. Eligible Maine people must have a federal adjusted gross income (FAGI) of less than $100,000 if filing single or if married and filing separately; $150,000 if filing as head of household; or $200,000 for couples filing jointly.

In the limited instances where someone has not already filed their 2021 Maine individual income tax return, either because they are late in doing so or because their unique financial situation has not typically required them to do so, they have until October 31 to file their return and claim the $850 relief check.