KENNEBUNKPORT – Residents here are happy to see President Bush come for visits in the summer, but they don’t want to foot the bill.

They hope he’ll follow in his father’s footsteps and help pay the costs for any visits.

When the elder George Bush stayed at his summer home here, local police were needed to help the Secret Service. That cost $4,000 a day and ranged from $57,000 to $110,000 a year, depending on how long the president stayed.

Local officials have warned the state’s congressional delegation that property taxpayers could be forced to shoulder the financial burden without federal reimbursement.

Under a 1976 law dating to Jimmy Carter’s visits to Plains, Ga., the government reimburses

a president’s hometown for security costs.

But while the elder Bush

named Kennebunkport as his

secondary residence, the younger Bush calls Crawford, Texas,

his home away from 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.

Consequently, Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe of Maine have proposed a bill allowing the president to name additional temporary homes for reimbursement.

Under their proposal, qualifying communities with fewer than 7,000 residents could get up to $100,000 a year. That limitation focused the bill narrowly on Kennebunkport, with a population of 3,720.

In an effort to avoid setting precedent with legislation, Snowe also asked Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, whose agency oversees the Secret Service, to pay the costs administratively.

Kennebunkport officials, such as Kennebunkport police Lt. Joseph Bruni, aren’t pulling up the welcome mat, they just want to cover costs.

“I think Kennebunkport always took pride in being the summer White House,” Collins said. “But from a cost standpoint, it adds up fast.”