Governor unveils borrowing package $117.9 million proposal sent to lawmakers

AUGUSTA – Gov. Angus King on Thursday unveiled a borrowing package totaling nearly $118 million, which he said may be split into two parts to be voted on in June and November.

King said one reason for splitting the bond package would be to speed up the delivery of federal matching money for homeland security improvements, which comprises a large chunk of the borrowed funds.

Maine voters have approved sizable bond packages in the last few years: $154 million in 1999 and $147 million last November. But King said it’s prudent to borrow again because the programs are worthy and overall indebtedness is being kept in check.

“We are a low-debt state, which is a good thing,” King said during a news conference attended by several Cabinet members and legislators supporting the package before the Legislature.

National guidelines recommend that states keep debts to less than 5 percent of their general revenues for a year, according to the King administration. If the full $117.9 million package is authorized and borrowed, bonded indebtedness would be about 4.3 percent of income, King said.

The governor also defended borrowing for capital improvements as a means of avoiding future debts associated with repairs of state facilities.

The bond package as submitted to the Appropriations Committee has five parts, the largest of which includes $43 million for homeland security, replacement of the Downeast Correctional Facility in Bucks Harbor and improvement of the prison in Windham.

The funds for homeland security would be used to pinpoint where communities across Maine are most vulnerable to terrorist attacks and how much it would cost to protect them.

Those figures would be submitted to federal agencies, which have indicated a willingness to help the states defend against acts of terror.

Other bond issues include:

. $31.1 million for economic development programs such as the Maine Rural Development Authority and renovation of a former eastern Maine military site into the Schoodic Education and Research Center.

. $19.3 million to continue funding several environmental programs to replace sewage discharge systems, build sewer plants, clean up tire dumps and hazardous substance sites and collect household hazardous wastes.

. $15 million to continue Maine’s revolving loan fund to pay for school renovations.

. $9.5 million for agricultural programs and fisheries, including construction of environmentally sound farm ponds, manure pits and renovation of state fish hatcheries.