Former senator, state rep debate tax cap proposal

ROCKPORT – A former state senator and an incumbent state representative discussed both sides of the Palesky proposal Tuesday, during a debate sponsored by two local chambers.

Former Sen. Phil Harriman, leader of Tax Cap Yes!, a political action committee supporting the bill, and Rep. Chris Rector of Thomaston, an opponent of the tax cap, debated the issue at the Samoset Resort. The 75-minute session was sponsored by the Rockland-Thomaston Area and Camden-Rockport-Lincolnville chambers of commerce. Approximately 80 people attended.

The tax cap referendum was initiated by a citizen petition and will be on the Nov. 2 state ballot. It would cap property taxes at $10 per $1,000 of assessed value.

“By supporting Palesky you’re treating a symptom and ignoring a disease,” Rector said, explaining the symptom is taxes, the disease is spending.

Harriman, a lifelong resident of Yarmouth, said escalating local property taxes and a growing state government are driving people out of Maine.

“Maine people are worn out,” he said. “Our incomes are going down and our taxes are going up – government jobs are growing faster than our paychecks.

“We must make fundamental changes by voting yes to Question 1,” Harriman said.

According to Rector, new leadership in Augusta and a spending cap are solutions to Maine’s high tax burden – not a tax cap, which is a “one-size-fits-all” approach.

Even those communities that now have a property tax at or below $10 will be affected by a tax cap, he said, through increased state taxes to cushion the blow to towns that get hard hit.

When local services shrink, so will state services, Rector said, as the funding responsibility shifts from communities to the state.

“This isn’t just sending a message,” he said. “It’s policy.”

The Palesky proposal “says you must lower the property tax burden and you must do it now,” Harriman said, telling attendants the bill can be “tinkered with” after it passes to make it more workable.

When Rector called the tax cap unconscionable because it’s been around for a decade and is still mostly unconstitutional, Harriman said many bills go before the Legislature flawed, but can be revised.

The unconstitutional portions do not negate the bill, he said.

The debaters were asked if there have been studies on cost-savings through consolidation of services between state, county and municipal governments.

Harriman said those types of discussions are welcomed, but the legislators can’t even agree there’s a problem.

“Together we need to lower property taxes,” he said, pointing to separate libraries in Augusta for citizens and legislators.

“It’s nice to have,” he said, but the state cannot afford it. “Why not combine [the two libraries] into one?”

Tough choices are ahead, Harriman said.

With a tax cap, people will have more money in their hands to reinvest in their homes, educate their children or donate to charities, he said.

Rector disagrees.

Taxes may be lower, Rector said, but there will be “fees, fees, fees – for everything.”

“It adds an element of unpredictability,” he said, “and fees aren’t tax-deductible.”