Tax cap beneficiaries split on proposal

BANGOR – Despite the prospect of its own substantial savings, one of the city’s largest property owners Tuesday announced its opposition to the Palesky tax cap proposal, warning of its “deep economic ramifications.”

“The premise behind the tax cap proposal is that it will create fiscal chaos, and out of that fiscal chaos will emerge sound, constructive tax policy,” said Bangor Savings Bank Chairman David Carlisle. “We do not subscribe to that kind of high-risk approach to fixing Maine’s problems.”

Bangor Savings Bank, which owns roughly $17 million in property throughout the city, joins a growing group of businesses opposed to the cap which, if approved by voters in November, would limit property taxes to 1 percent of their value.

Owners of commercial and industrial interests account for about 40 percent of the property taxes in Maine. They also own some of the state’s most expensive properties. Opponents of Question 1 argue that companies, not Maine homeowners, stand to gain the most from the cap.

For example, Bangor Savings, the city’s fourth-largest property owner, would see its annual tax bill of about $370,000 cut in half, based on city records.

Bank officials said Tuesday the savings aren’t worth the cost to the community.

“Such deep cuts would reduce vital services such as public safety and have severe negative consequences for public education, critical to our efforts to attract new business to the state and provide skilled workers for both new and existing businesses,” Bangor Savings President P. James Dowe wrote in an op-ed piece in today’s Bangor Daily News.

The city’s largest property owner, Kravco Simon, the Pennsylvania-based owner of the Bangor Mall, stands to save $610,000 if the cap passes, a 51 percent drop from its $1.1 million annual tax bill.

In total, Bangor stands to lose about $20 million in local property tax revenue if the cap passes, based on estimates by the Maine Municipal Association.

The biggest winners could be the state’s private utility companies. Central Maine Power, Northern Utilities and Florida Power & Light own generator stations and thousands of miles of power lines and gas lines, all of which are taxable.

Bangor Hydro-Electric Co. owns about $28.5 million in property in the city. If Question 1 passes, the utility’s $628,000 tax bill would drop to $285,000.

Fraser Papers in Madawaska also opposed the cap. Rosaire Pelletier, the company’s chief of financial operations, said a tax cap would slash town revenues and force the Legislature to raise other taxes to fill the gap.

The Maine State Chamber of Commerce is another opponent of the cap. The Chamber offered its own plan, which includes spending caps and tax relief targeted to those with high tax burdens.

But not all business owners oppose the cap. David DeLorme, owner of DeLorme Publishing Co. in Yarmouth, donated $25,000 to Tax Cap Yes!, the group supporting the measure.

He said the state is in a “downward spiral” and the tax cap would force the Legislature to tackle the state’s high tax burden.

“It’s the first step – putting pressure on the Legislature to do something to address the deep roots of Maine’s economic crisis,” DeLorme said. “There are many families who really have to decide between heat, medicine and food this winter.”

The state’s small businesses appear to be as divided on the issue, said David Clough, lobbyist for the Maine chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business.

“Even if they don’t believe it’s the right answer, they believe it’s the right message,” Clough said of those business owners who support it.