AUGUSTA – Despite demands by Question 1A proponents, Maine Secretary of State Dan Gwadosky refused late Friday afternoon to correct alleged “serious misstatements and inaccuracies” in his agency’s voting guide after objections were lodged by proponents of the Maine Municipal Association’s property tax relief proposal.

Dana K. Lee, president of Citizens to Reduce Local Property Taxes Statewide, said 1A had been unfairly compared to Question 1B, the competing measure on the fall ballot, as a result of Gwadosky’s alleged mischaracterization of several aspects of the proposal.

“That information needs to be dead accurate and we want it changed immediately,” Lee said Friday.

Lee got his answer, but it wasn’t the one he was looking for. Instead, Gwadosky defended every decision his department had made with respect to the PAC’s objections.

At issue for 1A proponents is the “Maine Citizens Guide to the Referendum Election,” a publication available on the secretary of state’s Web site and from local election officials that is designed to assist voter understanding of the basic ballot proposals.

Voters will go to the polls on Nov. 4 to determine the fate of Question 1A, which was advanced by the MMA, a lobbying and consultant group for municipalities. The citizen initiative promises local property tax relief by requiring the Legislature to identify funding sources to raise the state’s share of local education costs next year to 55 percent, a goal identified by the Legislature nearly 20 years ago. The state now funds education costs at about 41.4 percent with the difference borne statewide by local property tax payers.

Mainers For Responsible Property Tax Relief, a political action committee raising money for Question 1B, is supporting the competing measure crafted by Gov. John E. Baldacci and the Legislature. The plan phases in additional education funds over a five-year period until the 55 percent goal is reached. It also relies heavily on the implementation of Essential Programs and Services, a new school funding strategy that defines the costs of providing all Maine students the education they need to meet the state’s new Learning Results standards.

A third ballot option, Question 1C, allows voters to reject both the citizen initiative and the competing measure.

In his letter to Gwadosky, Lee claimed the secretary’s office erred when it stated that Question 1A would require the state to pay 55 percent of local education costs and 100 percent of special education costs. Lee said Gwadosky was well aware that the proposal includes special education within the 55 percent figure rather than “in addition to” the state’s share.

Gwadosky told Lee that his department’s characterization of the special education requirement was accurate “given the level of clarity in the initiated bill itself.”