ELLSWORTH – This time of year, many residents are being encouraged to help “get out the vote” as the elections nears, but a coalition of municipal employees in Hancock County’s only city has taken on another mission first.

They want to get out the info on a proposed tax cap before Maine residents vote on the proposal Nov. 2.

That’s why the group’s members, unified in their opposition to the Palesky tax cap plan, went door-to-door Saturday in Ellsworth handing out literature on potential consequences of the tax cap. In order to cover as much ground as possible, the 20 or so city employees plan to do the same thing next Saturday.

The proposed tax cap, which informally is named after Topsham anti-tax activist Carol Palesky, would cap property taxes at $10 for each $1,000 of a property’s value. Some municipalities would be permitted higher tax rates to accommodate voter-approved debt, but Maine cities and towns likely would have to eliminate $600 million from their tax revenue rolls if voters approve Question 1 on the Nov. 2 ballot, according to the Maine Municipal Association.

MMA officials have predicted that Ellsworth likely would lose between $3.35 million and $4.75 million from its annual budget if the Palesky tax cap becomes law.

Tax cap supporters charge municipal employees are speaking out against the proposal out of self-interest.

Ellsworth firefighter Richard Tupper, however, contends the proposal would have a far-reaching effect on society as a whole. Tupper and some fellow firefighters have helped organize the anti-cap efforts in Ellsworth.

“It’s much too broad,” Tupper said Friday of the tax cap. “The impacts are more far-reaching than people understand.”

Tupper noted that many local nonprofit entities, such as theaters or recreational athletic organizations, are largely funded by tax subsidies and could face closure without local tax assistance. If such programs cease to exist, he said, there could be less residual economic draw into service centers such as Ellsworth.

“It’s going to affect everybody, even on a personal level,” Tupper said. “[The likely effects] just keep getting bigger and bigger and bigger.”

Because of possibly unconstitutional provisions in the proposed law, Tupper said, it is unclear what exact impact the proposed tax cap would have on the Ellsworth Fire Department. He nevertheless predicted the effects would be significant.

Ellsworth schools Superintendent Jack Turcotte released a memo Friday that indicates members of the city’s elected school committee believe passage of the tax cap would have “a very serious negative impact” on the department. For example, he wrote in the memo, class size likely would increase, fees would be assessed for athletic activities and transportation, and maintenance and technology budgets likely would be reduced.

Turcotte said the impact on the school department depends on how the cap would be balanced against laws regulating education funding.

“I’m dead set against it,” Turcotte said of the proposed cap.

The school department projections were among the materials coalition members provided to local voters over the weekend.

Ellsworth Public Library Director Pat Foster also is involved in the local anti-tax cap coalition. She said Thursday that even a $50,000 budget reduction – 10 percent of what the library receives from the city each year – could result in the library losing its funds for new book purchases and periodicals.

In a worst-case scenario, Foster said, the library could be forced to shut down. She said that the library’s 9,600 card-holders would not be able to afford the user fees that would be necessary to keep the facility open if it loses all its municipal funding.

“I respect the right of people to have their own opinion, but I want them to have an informed opinion,” Foster said. “[There will be] some really, really tough choices to make.”

The coalition meets next at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 20, at the Downeast Family YMCA on State Street. The public is welcome to attend.