Judge rules against N.H. residents fighting Maine tax

YORK – Portsmouth Navel Shipyard workers have lost another battle in their fight to avoid Maine income taxes.

York County Superior Court Judge Arthur Brennan has ruled eight workers still fighting the tax must pay $150,000 in back taxes they owe the state.

The eight had argued on Nov. 9 that their status as residents of New Hampshire precluded them from being subject to Maine taxes. They also argued the shipyard is in New Hampshire, not Maine, and tried to show new maps to support their contention.

The shipyard is located on an island in the river that separates the states, and New Hampshire attorneys general have been insisting the shipyard is in their state. But the U.S. Supreme Court sided with Maine in a ruling last May 29. Brennan cited the high court ruling.

The petitioners’ argument was fatally defective in that the U.S. Supreme Court had resolved the long-standing border dispute, Brennan wrote.

“The essence of the recent Supreme Court decision is that if New Hampshire wanted to make the historical arguments which these petitioners now assert, it was required to do so in the earlier case.

“For whatever reason, New Hampshire chose not to and settled by consent. New Hampshire and her citizens remain bound by that choice,” Brennan said.

Shipyard workers would not have to pay any taxes if the shipyard was in New Hampshire, which has no income tax. In addition, Maine includes the income of a shipyard worker’s spouse in computing its tax, even if the spouse does not work in Maine.

Before Brennan’s ruling, New Hampshire Attorney General Philip McLaughlin agreed that new maps the eight tried to offer have no legal relevance.

“Residents are free to argue the historical evidence about where the shipyard is located, but it has no place in the courts. That is a political and historical debate. I try to confine myself to the realities of the law,” he said. “The Supreme Court is the final arbiter of this law. It has decided this case unequivocally,”