Former Gov. King opposed to TABOR

PORTLAND – Former Maine Gov. Angus King has come out in opposition to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot.

King, an independent who served from 1995 to 2003, said the formula in TABOR won’t work because the costs of many areas of state government – notably health care and transportation – are rising faster than the rate of inflation.

“This means that the increases in these areas will eventually crowd out available dollars for everything else,” King wrote in an opinion column in the Maine Sunday Telegram.

In his column, King presented his Top 10 reasons to not vote for TABOR. The measure, he said, would take away local control, stifle real tax reform and put Maine on a “maintenance-only budget.”

The initiative asks Mainers if they want to limit government spending increases to the rate of inflation plus population growth and to require voter approval for tax and fee increases.