AUGUSTA – A proposal to use monies generated in the unorganized territory to fund regional infrastructure needs was pitched on Tuesday to a legislative study committee evaluating land ownership changes and development taking place throughout the area.

Greenville Town Manager John Simko laid out his plan for the creation of a cost-sharing formula in which an unorganized territory could contribute for indirect services provided by neighboring towns. His appearance before the committee was at the advice of Gov. John Baldacci, who he said supported the concept

“As growth within the unorganized territory accelerates, there will be a reciprocal cost to adjoining municipalities for the upkeep and replacement of such infrastructure,” Simko told the committee on Tuesday. That infrastructure could include an airport, a wharf or a tennis court, whatever is used routinely by residents in the unorganized territory, he said.

The solutions he offered included creating an adequate means to share costs with the unorganized territory that has residential populations abutting a municipality; creating a regional fee for major capital outlay to replace or repair infrastructure; and creating a regional infrastructure account funded by a portion of new property tax revenue from new construction, renovation or subdivisions in unorganized territory.

“It’s a novel idea,” Rep. Robert Duplessie, D-Westbrook, said Tuesday after listening to Simko’s proposal. Duplessie’s bill, LD 1636 – to determine if there is an equal balance between the taxation and the services provided in the unorganized territory – prompted creation of the study committee.

Duplessie and his fellow committee members are educating themselves about the organization and administration of the unorganized territory and will report back to the Legislature with their findings and recommendations by July 1. The committee originally was directed to report back this month, but it recently received an extension.

Simko, who hopes the committee will support his proposal, said he planned to seek Legislative support to include a cost-sharing mechanism in the law so the unorganized territory could contribute to certain projects in neighboring communities, but he is not advocating that it be a mandate.

Unorganized territory around communities such as Greenville typically have a much lower tax rate than the organized towns, which is an instant draw for new homeowners, Simko said. Residents in the unorganized territory pay for fire and police protection, solid waste and ambulance services, but they do not contribute toward the cost of the airport, tennis courts, boat launching facilities and basketball courts, all of which are used by these residents but maintained at the expense of Greenville taxpayers, he said.

The town already receives some support, according to committee member John Willard of Rockwood, who pointed out that Greenville receives an income from airport lease holders which includes residents in the unorganized territory and that the federal and state governments contribute greatly to the airport.

Committee member Doreen Shieve noted that the town may have another avenue for help. She said she had never lived in a town where she didn’t have to pay a fee for certain services.