BANGOR – Cutting public financing for political campaigns and increasing the tobacco tax were among ways Mainers preferred to solve the state’s budget crisis, according to a poll conducted for a media partnership that included the Bangor Daily News.

In the telephone poll, conducted earlier this week, 76 percent of those Mainers surveyed favored cutting spending to help close a projected $1 billion budget shortfall over the next three years.

Only 4 percent backed raising taxes, with 15 percent supporting a combination of spending cuts and raising taxes, according to the survey conducted by RKM Research for a partnership among WLBZ 2 Bangor, WCSH 6 Portland, the Bangor Daily News and Maine Public Broadcasting.

The poll, which has a 4.3 percent margin of error, randomly surveyed 513 likely Maine voters, who were asked how they would address the estimated $1 billion structural budget gap. The structural gap is a recurring and evasive deficit representing the difference between projected state revenues and the cost of state programs.

While across the board spending cuts was the most popular choice – appealing to 31 percent of those surveyed – 22 percent favored cutting public financing for political campaigns as provided by the Maine Clean Elections Act.

The $3.3 million Clean Elections program, now in its third year, is funded from a state interest-bearing account that stands at about $6.9 million. Thus far in the 2002 election cycle, candidates have received about $930,000, according to the Office of Fiscal and Program Review.

Doug Clopp of the Maine Citizen Leadership Fund of Portland said the targeting of Clean Election funding was unfortunate and the result of an “incredibly simplistic” question on the poll.

“For the benefit we get in the state, that poll does it a disservice,” said Clopp, noting that the program makes up just a tiny fraction – about 0.03 percent – of the state’s $5.4 billion budget and has proven successful in getting special interest money out of Maine politics.

Sen. Jill Goldthwait, the independent chairwoman of the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee, said that while she was surprised by the targeting of the Clean Elections law, she was not surprised by voters’ sentiment to cut spending.

“If given a choice between raising taxes and cutting spending, I’d probably choose [cutting spending] too, but it’s not that easy,” said the Bar Harbor senator. “Right now, they are not being presented with proposals that hurt. When it becomes this much less for schools and hospitals, then suddenly the answer to that question changes.”

Last month, Gov. Angus King amended his supplemental budget proposal to close the $240 million deficit for the two-year budget cycle that ends June 30, 2003. In his plan, King made up $75 million by cutting back on state spending, freezing state hiring and imposing mandatory furlough days for state employees.

About $100 million of remaining deficit would be made up through policy changes, fund transfers requiring legislative approval and delaying about $48 million in state payments under the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement program until the next fiscal year.

King has said he hopes to call a special session in early October to deal with the budget deficit once legislative leaders can reach consensus on his plan.

King spokesman Tony Sprague said the poll results reinforced the administration’s diversified approach.

“It’s pretty clear there’s no easy way to close a gap this size,” Sprague said. “People are looking for a combination of different ideas.”

While raising taxes was not among the most popular of those ideas, according to the new poll, 40 percent of those surveyed said they would be most likely to support an increase in the tobacco tax if the state were to raise taxes.

In the case of an inevitable tax increase, 20 percent said they would likely support a sales tax increase, with 5 percent supporting the elimination of the BETR program, which reimburses businesses for the local property taxes they spend on new equipment.

BETR carries with it a $63 million appropriation, about $12.6 million of which has been spent, according to the fiscal office.

Sen. Paul Davis, the assistant Republican leader from Piscataquis County, said the last thing Maine needed was a tax increase considering its status as a one of the highest taxed states in the nation and its need to attract business.

“I come home and everyone I see says we have to get spending under control,” Davis said. “The only time I hear about tax increases is when I get anywhere near the government.”