Local option sales tax assessed

I applaud Bangor City Manager Ed Barrett, city officials and elected representatives from Lewiston, Portland and other large communities within the state for meeting and making their views known for a much needed “local option sales tax.” This was before a group of urban lawmakers at the State House in Augusta on Feb. 8.

The objective of this meeting was to gather legislative support for several variations of proposed amounts such as one or two percent (very minimal, but greatly needed and very realistic), that have been/will be proposed by representatives during this year’s legislative session.

This type of option/use tax, its needs, uses and fairness are not new. It is used by cities and states throughout the United States as a financial source of assistance to eliminate the high cost burden to local property tax payers for maintaining and operating their city’s infrastructure under a generally public accepted service and distribution center atmosphere. This is the case with the city of Bangor, which is generally viewed as “the hub and service center” for Eastern Maine.

In Maine, this option has been ignored, possibly due to the lack of public education and support as to its benefits, needs and use. People living outside these service center areas come to amuse, dine, educate, lodge, play, shop, visit, work and avail themselves of the many human desires, needs and services not found in smaller locations.

All this people traffic is welcomed and adds to good economy. But it comes with a price tag to the local property tax payer. They have to help pay the added cost to provide increased fire/police/safety protection, health/welfare support, parking areas, road maintenance and maintaining other infrastructure necessities such as an auditorium, civic center, libraries, sporting facilities, schools, regional projects, etc. for the use of the transient public.

All people who travel to other areas for many reasons know that this type of use tax in larger cities, etc. is charged on meals and lodging, sometimes as high as 12 to 15 percent, for exactly the same reasons our cities in Maine need this opportunity. It’s time our people in Maine educate themselves and their elected representatives that our cities need a law passed that will give them the opportunity to impose their “local option sales tax,” realistically when and where needed.

In addition, businesses that have the most to gain through the travelling transient public also had better support this modest tax of one or two percent.

If this type of financial help is not soon given to the larger cities, these service centers will soon not be able to afford to give the opportunities to the transient public they have generally accepted as being there. Let us all pitch in and do our share to see this opportunity is given to our cities/service centers.

Charles J. Birkel lives in Bangor.