The Palesky tax cap was put to bed by Maine residents Tuesday, but the question of high taxes remains with legislators as well as municipal and county officials. Gov. John Baldacci has said tax reform needs to be a high priority in the next legislative… Read More
BANGOR – Opponents to the Palesky tax cap initiative denied Saturday that they are using scare tactics to encourage people to vote against the referendum Tuesday. Instead, they said, they are educating the public by stating the facts. “The proponents of Question 1 say that… Read More
Carol Palesky’s name won’t be on the November ballot. Nonetheless, the grandmotherly Topsham accountant could be the most powerful – or, some say, dangerous – force in Maine politics this year, as voters consider the sweeping 1 percent property tax cap with which her name… Read More
OLD TOWN – New estimates on the impacts of the proposed Palesky tax cap show that cuts could be slightly less than original figures given by former City Manager John Lord. The overall shortfall would be about $1 million less than Lord’s previous $5.5 million… Read More
WATERVILLE – Although the two guest speakers at the Palesky tax cap debate were on opposite sides of the fence Thursday morning, they were solidly together on one point: their disappointment that the Legislature isn’t dealing with property tax reform. Yellow Light Breen, vice president… Read More
BREWER – When asked, neither proponents nor opponents of Carol Palesky’s tax cap initiative could say for sure if the homestead exemption many Mainers use to reduce their property taxes would continue if the cap is passed by voters in November. Members of both sides… Read More
PRESQUE ISLE – City officials may join forces with two other communities in the state and the Maine Municipal Bond Bank in challenging the validity of the Palesky tax cap. Councilors discussed during their Monday night meeting a recent proposal they received from the Maine… Read More
HOULTON – Nearly three weeks ago, Town Councilor Gerald Adams suggested that the group think about giving the next council a $1,500 raise. A short time later, however, the councilor reconsidered because of an issue that municipal officials say could result in the town losing… Read More
TOPSHAM – Don’t let Carol Palesky’s grandmotherly appearance fool you. Sure, she has wispy hair pulled up in a knot, granny glasses and a cane close at hand. She wears old slippers as she hobbles on a bum foot in her home office, where she… Read More
MADAWASKA – Not unlike most Aroostook County municipalities, Madawaska stands to lose nearly half its property tax collections if the so-called Palesky tax cap is approved by voters in November. The Board of Selectmen and the Madawaska School Committee on Tuesday signed a resolution against… Read More
PRESQUE ISLE – “If the Palesky tax cap passes, I think that on Nov. 3 we will live in a different world.” That philosophy, stated during an informational meeting about the 1 percent property tax cap on Wednesday evening, seemed to echo the beliefs of… Read More
ROCKLAND – Town officials can’t afford to wait to see if the Palesky tax cap proposal is passed by voters in November. They need to prepare now and make the public aware of the tax cap’s impact, according to a lobbyist for the Maine Municipal Association. Read More
ELLSWORTH – Roughly 100 people from Hancock and western Washington counties, many of them municipal, school and county officials, got a crash course Wednesday night from Maine Municipal Association about how their towns likely would be affected by the Palesky tax cap proposal. According to… Read More
AUGUSTA – Gov. John Baldacci on Wednesday praised the Maine State Chamber of Commerce for declaring its opposition to the property tax cap proposal on the Nov. 2 ballot, saying that it’s the wrong road to tax relief. “I think the chamber is showing leadership… Read More
HOLDEN – After hearing that the Palesky tax cap initiative, set to go before voters in November, would leave the town desperate for cash, the Town Council on Monday night endorsed a resolve supporting the defeat of the measure. “This means if the tax cap… Read More
HERMON – As a gunnery officer in the U.S. Navy Reserves, Jack Wibby was instilled with the idea that the only way to do things was the right way and that doing it right sometimes meant doing drills over and over again. And it was… Read More
The four towns that make up School Union 90 will be among the latest to discuss ramifications to their school department budgets if the proposed tax cap initiative passes in November. School committees in Alton, Bradley, Greenbush and Milford each have put the item on… Read More
BANGOR – Tax relief is needed in Maine. That’s one thing both an opponent and proponent of Carol Palesky’s tax cap initiative, which is set to go before voters in November, said while squaring off at the annual Associated Constructors of Maine conference in Bangor. Read More
MONTICELLO – Some have pegged it as tax relief. Some have deemed its potential impact as devastating. While views on the controversial Palesky tax cap are still being decided, administrators in SAD 29 stated their position clearly on Tuesday evening: If approved, the legislation has the potential to… Read More
WASHBURN – SAD 45 became one of the first school districts in Aroostook County to take a stand against the Palesky initiative on Tuesday night after voting to pass a resolution opposing the 1 percent tax cap. Superintendent Brooke Clenchy said Wednesday that the initiative,… Read More
AUGUSTA – The Maine Municipal Association holds its annual convention in a month and this year the focus is the proposed statewide property tax cap that will be on the ballot Nov. 2. Fresh from winning passage of a tax-related citizen initiative of its own,… Read More
The Maine Municipal Association has scheduled several meetings this month at locations throughout the state to answer questions about the tax cap initiative facing voters in November. All meetings will begin at 6:30 p.m. and run until about 8:30 p.m. Attendance is free, but those… Read More
PORTLAND – Elementary school teacher Lois Kilby-Chesley doesn’t know a single teacher who will vote in favor of a property tax cap in November’s referendum. She hopes that type of conviction among Maine’s teachers, as well as other public sector employees, will be enough to… Read More
ORONO – More than 20 town jobs will be cut if voters approve the Palesky Tax Cap in November, according to estimates from town officials. The municipality will face at least $1.7 million in budget cuts, with the most drastic reductions being made to the… Read More
MILO – Town Manager Jane Jones has issued a challenge to supporters of the Palesky tax cap initiative, even Carol Palesky herself: Come to Milo and show her in black and white how the town can operate on 10 mills, or $10 per $1,000 valuation. Read More
DOVER-FOXCROFT – Town Manager Jack Clukey doesn’t have to be a wizard to predict the future of his small community under the Palesky tax-cap initiative. He envisions a town with a skeleton crew, fewer services, and more user fees to replace the revenue lost under… Read More