AUGUSTA – A telephone survey of 500 Mainers commissioned by the Maine Municipal Association indicates broad support for reforming the state’s tax system. But lawmakers and Gov. Angus King say reform will be difficult and may take a referendum to accomplish.

The poll, which was conducted earlier this month, asked several questions on taxes and how tax reform could be accomplished. All of the results indicated strong support for “comprehensive” tax reform, with 70 percent of respondents agreeing there needs to be a major overhaul of state tax law. Just 6 percent of respondents disagreed, with 24 percent expressing no opinion.

Support was even greater, 79 percent, if the voters were given a chance to vote for or against the tax reform proposal before it could go into effect.

“We were very pleased with the strong support in the survey,” said Christopher Lockwood, executive director of the MMA. “This clearly shows there is strong support for tax reform.”

But, Gov. King said any survey on tax issues is not very useful in the debate over tax policy unless it is very specific. He said everybody wants tax reform.

“It’s one of those things where everybody is for progress, but nobody is for change,” King said. “It’s very easy to say we want tax reform, but then defining it and what it really means … is much more difficult.”

King said, for example, people will say they support broadening the sales tax to new products or to services in order to lower the sales tax, until they get the details.

“Then they find out it is their service that is being taxed,” he said, “and that support goes away.”

The MMA survey did ask questions similar to King’s example. Mainers were asked if they would be more likely to support an expansion of the sales tax base if the revenue from that expansion were used to reduce their property taxes by 15 percent. That trade-off drew support from 60 percent of the poll respondents. Eight percent opposed the idea, while 32 percent had no opinion.

The poll also asked if the respondent was prepared and willing to deal with the changes that would result in restructuring the tax system. Sixty-two percent of the respondents said they were, with 8 percent not willing and the remainder unsure.

Supporters of tax reform, such as Rep. Bonnie Green, D-Monmouth, the co-chairman of the Legislature’s Taxation Committee, said King is right to say there will be opposition to any tax increase. But, she believes when voters know other taxes will go down, they will support making taxes fairer.

“The tax mix right now is not fair,” she said. “It puts too much reliance on the property tax.”

Green said tax reform and school funding in Maine, like many other states, are linked. She said that with more than a billion dollars in property taxes being collected every year for schools, the way the property tax is levied needs to be changed as part of reform.

Tax reform proposals being considered by the taxation committee triggered the MMA poll.

“The draft legislation I have seen would put two questions to the voters,” she said. “One to change the constitution to allow different levels of property taxation and the second would put the whole idea of tax reform to the voters. …”

Specifically, the constitutional change would allow property taxes on businesses and primary residences to be lowered, while taxing vacation properties and second homes at a higher rate. That idea drew support from 64 percent of the poll respondents, with 24 percent opposed.

Green said the referendum question could ask voters to approve increasing the sales tax in order to lower the property tax. If voters approved that referendum question, the next Legislature would be required to develop a reform plan that would be submitted to the voters for their final approval before it would take effect.

“The goal is for it to be revenue neutral,” said Rep. Barney McGowan, D-Pittsfield, also a member of the Taxation Committee. “We need tax reform and I think it will take the voters voting for it at referendum to make it happen. And I think they will vote for it, if they have a chance.”

But Sen. Richard Bennett, R-Norway, president of the State Senate, said he doubts Mainers will get the chance to vote on the issue. He said he does not believe, with a few weeks to go in the legislative session, there is enough support among lawmakers to put the issue to referendum. To put the constitutional question on the ballot in November, two-thirds of both chambers would have to approve it.

“Everybody is for tax reform until they find out your idea for tax reform is to raise their taxes in order to lower yours,” he said.

Bennett predicted support for lowering the property tax would decrease if voters were asked about specific tax increases that would be needed to fund the reduction in property taxes.

Indeed, that happened 25 years ago. Then Gov. James Longley, an independent from Lewiston, had a study commission that proposed broadening the sales tax in order to lower the property tax. Every group from lawyers to funeral home operators strongly opposed the idea because their services would be taxed, and the proposal never made it to the Legislature.

The MMA survey also indicated respondents believe lawmakers and Gov. King should make tax reform a higher priority. Fully 80 percent of the respondents said that Maine needs “more courageous leadership” on tax reform.

The survey was conducted by Command Research, a Harpswell-based polling firm owned by Bowdoin College professor Chris Potholm. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent.