Two plans vie to cut property taxes

PORTLAND – An anti-tax activist and an organization representing Maine’s towns and cities plan to seek voter signatures on Election Day for competing plans to reduce property taxes.

The Maine Taxpayers Action Network, headed by Carol Palesky of Topsham, says it already has collected more than half of the 42,101 signatures it would need to get the measure on the 2003 ballot if it submits its petitions by Nov. 5.

The Maine Municipal Association is offering an alternative ballot proposal for next year that seeks to limit property taxes by forcing the state to substantially increase its share of the cost of K-12 education.

Although they take different approaches, the two initiatives come in response to the same problem: rising property taxes. In 2000, according to a study by Maine Revenue Services, property taxes collected statewide increased by more than 6 percent. Last year, they increased more than 8 percent.

“People all over the state are outraged,” said Palesky. “The towns and schools went wild with their budgets this year, and people are angry.”

Her proposal, modeled after California’s Proposition 13, would cap property taxes at $10 per $1,000 of assessed value and freeze assessments at the time a property is purchased. Increases in assessments could not exceed 2 percent per year.

The MMA’s plan calls for the state to provide at least 55 percent of the cost of education and pay for all special education services mandated by state or federal law. The $700 million the state now pays for education is about 42 percent of the total cost.

“It’s pretty straightforward. It basically gets the state to live up to a promise it made a long time ago,” said Michael Starn, spokesman for the Maine Municipal Association. “We think the Legislature really wants to provide increased state funding for education, but doesn’t have the political will to do it.”

The MMA, which does not say where the Legislature could or should find the estimated $200 million in additional education funds, says its plan could reduce property taxes by 15 percent.

If petitioners return their petitions by Nov. 5, they need 42,101 signatures – or 10 percent of the number of people who voted in the 1998 gubernatorial election. After that, they will need 10 percent of the number of people who vote Nov. 5.