The most important challenge facing our company and our community today is the effort to create and retain quality jobs. Without good jobs Hartland and surrounding towns will decline. Our children will move away, and our lives will be diminished. It’s a challenge to us all to find ways to improve Hartland’s economic prospects – a challenge we can

meet working together.

One of the most successful tools we have to support good jobs and growth is the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement program, known as BETR. By taking away the burden of high property taxes on business investments, BETR allows companies like ours to continue providing quality employment throughout our area.

For our business, Irving Tanning Co., BETR has supported more than 200 jobs and $5,984,000 in investment over the last nine years. That’s a track record we’re proud of, and without BETR’s help, it’s a track record we couldn’t have achieved.

Last legislative session lawmakers cut the BETR program. That was a mistake in two ways. First, BETR reductions will place additional cost burdens on our company at a time when we are competing nationally and globally with lower-cost companies. We don’t want to make cuts – we want to grow!

The other reason that last session’s BETR cut was a mistake is even more important. Every company needs to be able to rely on stable tax policies that encourage growth and investment. Changing the rules after a company has invested makes business decision-makers worried that they can’t rely on state government as a partner. That makes investment in Maine, and the economic prosperity investment brings, much more difficult.

Thankfully the solution is straightforward. Repeal the cut in BETR as soon as the Legislature returns to Augusta in January. Improve BETR by eliminating the property tax on new investment. And make sure that state budget shortfalls are never used again as an excuse for hurting our ability to invest in our community and our state.

We look forward to working with area lawmakers in the next legislative session to accomplish these goals. We hope the people of Hartland and surrounding communities will join us in that effort. Working together we can make Maine a more prosperous place for ourselves and for our children.

Dick LaRochelle is president of Irving Tanning Co. in Hartland.