Bangor assesses tax cap impact Loss of jobs, services predicted

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BANGOR – Nearly 200 city employees, and likely scores of school staffers, could join the ranks of the unemployed.

Two of Bangor’s satellite fire stations could close, leaving only Central Station on Main Street, which could lengthen response times in some parts of the city.

Parks and recreation programs unable to support themselves through fees would cease to exist. The BAT Community Connector might no longer be available, as the city no longer would be able to support it. The annual public library subsidy could be slashed in half, severely curtailing operating hours.

These are some conclusions City Manager Edward Barrett reached in a report being made public today.

The report, based on staff recommendations, analyzes the impact a proposed statewide tax cap could have on Bangor, a service center community that provides professional, retail, transportation, medical and government services to all of eastern and northern Maine and part of Atlantic Canada.

“The overarching concern is that if we have to reduce services to the extent that Palesky would require, it will undermine the quality of life that is the reason many people live and work here,” Barrett said Saturday.

To get an idea of what life in Bangor might look like under the cap, Barrett asked his department heads to develop budgets based on revenue losses of 30 to 50 percent.

With the city’s Police and Fire departments operating with about half their current staffing, many of the nonemergency services both departments provide could be scrapped.

Emergency dispatching might become a luxury the city no longer could afford, which could mean joining the Penobscot Regional Communication Center, a move the city has so far resisted.

But even that wasn’t enough, Barrett said. Even with all of the cuts and staff reductions proposed in the report, the city would need to find nearly half a million dollars more in cuts to offset the loss of more than $20 million in tax revenues.

Though the tough decisions about which budget items would go rest with city councilors, Barrett’s report paints a dismal picture.

The tax cap referendum, initiated by a citizen petition led by accountant Carol Palesky of Topsham, will be on the Nov. 2 state ballot.

If passed, it would cap property taxes at 1 percent of their assessed value, or $10 per $1,000 in property value. If the tax cap were in effect now, Bangor would have to make do with $17.8 million in tax revenue for city and school operations, a $20.6 million drop from the total to be raised this year.

Though it remains to be seen how the remaining revenue would be divvied up, Barrett assumed in his report that all property taxes, after payment of the county tax and debt service, would be allocated to the Bangor School Department.

“Palesky is one of these proposals that’s deceptively simple,” Barrett said Saturday. “Boy, how can you argue against keeping your property taxes lower? But the question is not just ‘Do you want lower taxes?’ The question also is, ‘Do you want lower taxes even if it means no longer having [access to a variety of city services]?’ I just don’t think the effect would be what [supporters] expect.”

Tax cap opponents say it would bust municipal budgets, which would lead to cuts in many services. Supporters say the cap would force Maine cities and towns to control spending and say opponents are using “scare tactics” to sway public opinion.

A retired high school physics teacher from Yarmouth, Jack Wibby is among the Mainers working to pass the tax cap, largely to help those Mainers who are being taxed out of their homes because the state’s taxation system, adopted in the early 1800s, is “archaic.”

“All I can say is the cap, if enacted, will compel reform and this reform will not happen unless [state and local governments] are compelled,” he said Sunday.

“I think it’s time for the public to know that these are not scare tactics. These are real people, real jobs, real services,” Council Chairman Dan Tremble said Sunday. “People are impacted more by local government than any other level.”

He said voters need to understand that if the cap passes, residents will be paying for some services now covered by taxes, such as trash disposal, and that there will be reductions and delays in other services, such as street and sidewalk plowing.

The owner of a busy Hammond Street convenience store, Tremble said few residents have broached the tax cap topic with him.

“It’s actually weird,” he said. “I’m not hearing a lot from people, other than the people who are directly involved.”

Tremble did say he has fielded calls from residents worried about the BAT bus system.

“I got a call from a person who’s handicapped and has difficulty getting around. They really don’t have any other [transportation] option,” he said.

Barrett has met with employees to let them know what could come down if the cap passes.

“There’s a lot of uncertainty, so it’s hard on the morale of our employees,” he said. Despite the possibility that many face losing their jobs under the cap, he has seen no mass departures. “We’ve got employees who’ve been with us for years, and they are committed to the city.”

Public polling indicates that support for the cap is beginning to slip as opponents step up their efforts.

Despite that, Bangor is taking steps to prepare. One step involves asking voters on Nov. 2 to ratify existing debt so that it can be repaid with funds raised outside the $10 per $1,000 limit.

Under Palesky’s proposal, debt that is not “voter approved” must be paid within the $10 limit. If passed, the measure would free up $4.2 million for city operations.

Another step involves educating employees and the public about the cap’s likely effects.

“We are trying to get the word out,” Barrett said, “but we can’t go out and be aggressive in any way” because the issue is perceived as a political one.

To that end, city leaders are making the rounds at public speaking engagements to lay out what they believe is at risk.

The city also is providing impact data to groups mobilizing to oppose the cap.

“And we, of course, are making this report available,” Barrett said of the impact analysis.

The report is available on the city’s Web site at www.bangormaine.gov. It can be found under the city government heading, in the section titled “overview.” Once there, click on the title, “Palesky Departmental Impacts to the City of Bangor.”