HOULTON – Town officials are gearing up for a public forum on the 1 percent tax cap referendum that will kick off at the town office this coming Monday evening.

The forum, which will begin at 6:30 p.m., will be televised on the town’s public access channel. Interim Town Manager Phil McCarthy said earlier this week that he plans to lead the audience through a Power Point presentation on the so-called Palesky tax cap, which is named after Topsham tax activist Carol Palesky.

The proposal, which will go before voters on Nov 2., would scale back assessed property values to their 1996-97 level and cap property taxes at $10 per $1,000 of valuation. It also would limit assessments to an increase of 2 percent a year while a property remains in a family. According to an impact analysis by the Maine Municipal Association, the town’s property tax commitment would be reduced by 58.1 percent if voters approve the measure.

In late September, the town formed a tax cap council to discuss the impact of the referendum on the municipality if voters approve it in November. Officials say that schools and public services would suffer tremendous fiscal cuts if the measure were implemented.

Bernie Reece, the town’s parks and recreation director, submitted a report at a meeting two weeks ago on how the town might make his department self-sustaining if the referendum passes. The department now charges youth $25 to participate in T-ball. That figure could be raised to $134 if the cap passes, and a number of other fee increases could occur.

These numbers, McCarthy said recently, do not take into account the number of children that would be forced to drop out of recreation programs because their families could not afford the higher fees.

Only one member of the tax cap council publicly supports the referendum. Stan Ginish, who recently moved to town, has consistently maintained that the cap is a good idea. He believes that towns could save a lot of money by consolidating schools and issuing taxes and surcharges to fraternal and religious organizations.

Town Councilor Phil Bernaiche also supports the Palesky plan, and said at a recent meeting that he would “encourage people to vote for it.”

Monday evening’s forum will feature questions from residents about the tax cap, which will be answered by town officials. The public is invited to submit questions in writing by e-mail and letters.