Lawmakers considering LMF funds $75 million in bonds focus of some proposals

Land for Maine’s Future, the conservation grant program which now is on hold for lack of money, could have a new lease on life if one of six bills that propose funding mechanisms is approved by the Legislature this spring.

Four of the proposals call for issuing up to $75 million in bonds, while two involve paying for the program through the General Fund. All of the proposals enjoy some support from senators and representatives on both sides of the aisle.

“I’m ever the optimist,” Tim Glidden, who directs the program for the Maine State Planning Office, said Wednesday.

“I think there’s a widespread agreement among people that there was a missed opportunity last year. I think people have stopped pointing fingers and are asking ‘How do we solve this?'”

Since its inception in 1986, Land for Maine’s Future funds have been used to secure purchases or conservation easements on more than 210,000 acres by local land trusts and community groups. Though controversial at the onset, the program has become popular with environmentalists and property rights advocates alike because of its focus on local control.

Maine voters have twice approved Land for Maine’s Future funds in the form of a $35 million bond issue in 1987 and a $50 million bond in 1999.

But last spring, funds ran dry.

Criticism of LMF has been rare in recent years, as the program has brought in several federal dollars for each $1 of bond money spent.

However, a number of influential Republicans led by then-minority leader Joe Bruno (formerly the Raymond representative), argued that regardless of a program’s popularity, a year of budget shortfalls was an inappropriate time for the state to incur bond debt.

As a candidate for governor, John Baldacci had stated his support for a $100 million LMF bond. Last February, he formally proposed a scaled-down bond package that included $60 million for the program. By August, when Legislators defeated a final attempt to place a bond package on the November 2004 ballot, the proposal had been dropped to $20 million.

The governor’s office has not yet announced his official bond package for 2005, but several legislators said Wednesday that it is expected to approximate the $75 million called for by most of the bills.

“There is considerable bipartisan support for the program,” said Michael Brennan, D-Portland, who has introduced one of the $75 million bond proposals.

But Rep. Stephen Bowen, R-Rockport, believes that LMF would be better-served if it were removed from the politics of Election Day.

“I don’t think this program should be hostage to bond negotiations,” he said Wednesday.

Bowen has submitted a bill that would create a stream of dedicated revenue from a tax that the state already charges on real estate transactions.

When real estate is sold in Maine, the buyer must pay the state $2.20 per $1,000 of property bought. Of the $20 million or so the state raises annually, 10 percent is diverted to county governments, 45 percent goes to the Maine State Housing Authority, and the remainder goes into the General Fund.

That General Fund money totals between $9 million and $10 million per year – approximately the same amount that bonds have provided to LMF in the past, according to Bowen.

Rep. Darlene Curley, R-Scarborough, also wants to support LMF through the General Fund, but she has proposed including the program as a $20 million line item in the next biennial budget, to give it a more secure future.

“When a state has a deficit, I’m not eager to borrow more money,” Curley said Wednesday. “If the state of Maine wants [LMF] to be a priority, it should be in the budget.”

Glidden said Wednesday that his office will support whatever figure is ultimately proposed by Baldacci. Ideally, however, he would like to see a commitment of between $10 million and $20 million annually for several years.

Many of the negotiations for conservation deals that have been completed with LMF funds took several years, and without a longer-term commitment guaranteeing that funds will be available, some landowners might not be willing to start the process, he explained.

And although $10 million annually has served LMF well, the rising price of land – particularly in coastal areas – has meant larger grant requests.

“You swiftly figure out that you need on the order of $20 million per year just to continue the pace,” Glidden said.