Buying public land

No matter what level of funding the Legislature eventually decides to dedicate to public-land purchases, lawmakers should be comfortable supporting a bill expected to be heard today that would send a small but steady stream of money to the Land for Maine’s Future Fund.

Sponsored by Speaker Steve Rowe, LD 1344 directed 45 percent of the real estate transfer tax for the next 10 years, adding $5 million annually to that fund and providing a stable base on which to buy land. The proposal maintains current LMF guidelines that direct its members to buy either land or easements from willing sellers for the public’s benefit, to preserve farmland or to protect wildlife. The real estate transfer tax currently is divided three ways: 45 percent to the Housing Opportunities for Maine Fund; 10 percent for county costs; and 45 percent to the General Fund. Speaker Rowe’s proposal would dedicate the General Fund money to LMF.

LD 1344 is half of a public-land plan by Speaker Rowe and Sen. Chellie Pingree. Sen. Pingree’s bill, LD 993, would provide a $75 million bond and a one-time infusion of $20 million from surplus into the LMF program. Though there is widespread support for a significant bond for land, this bill is likely to be hotly debated: The figure lawmakers were thinking about was lower than what the Pingree bill requires.

A decade’s worth of annual $5 million contributions to the LMF makes sense for several reasons. The board has an 11-year track record of making sound purchases throughout the state, using its money wisely and stretching a buck by finding matching money or agreeing to easements where appropriate. The annual tax contribution also would give the board a predictable fund on which to base its decisions and could allow the state to more aggressively seek matching funds, knowing that a source of revenue was secure in the future.

Using the real estate transfer tax is not a new idea — 13 other states already apply at least a portion of the tax to land purchases. Maine should do the same, extending the success of the LMF board for at least another decade and preserving a small piece of Maine forever.