Taxpayers may be best lobby against LePage budget

PARIS — Town officials are calling on local taxpayers to formally voice their concerns about possible tax increases that may result from Governor Paul LePage's proposed 2014-2015 budget.

Since the budget proposal was released in January, municipal officials have been warning that the cuts to municipal revenue it calls for will create serious financial problems for their towns.

Focusing on the impact to town budgets, however, may not be the best strategy, Town Manager Amy Bernard told selectboard members during their February 12 meeting.

Bernard reported that the Western Maine Manager's Association, in a meeting last week, agreed a more effective strategy would be to put the budget's impact on local taxpayers front and center.

"They are [encouraging] us to really emphasize the impact on property owners," Bernard told board members.

"This is really a tax shift to them, not really to the town."

The budget proposed by the LePage administration looks to suspend municipal revenue sharing, take a portion of town's commercial excise tax and eliminate the Homestead Property Tax Exemption for people under age 65, as well as other measures.

Opponents of the proposed budget have described it as a massive tax shift that lacks cuts at the state level.

In January, Bernard estimated the suspension of revenue sharing alone would cost Paris around $300,000 and result in a $1 mil rate increase, adding about $135 to the average homeowner's tax bill.

At last week's meeting, Bernard suggested the town could contact residents who might consider testifying about the personal effect of the cuts in front of the legislative committee considering the budget.

"I think it would be a much greater impact on the legislators if the actual taxpayers went in and said 'this is how much my taxes are going up and I can't afford it,' opposed to a town manager going in and saying 'you're creating a half-million dollar budget gap for me,'" Bernard said.

The board should encourage as many property taxpayers and local business owners as possible to visit Augusta and testify, Bernard said. She was currently compiling the average tax increase on Paris property owners.

As yet, it was unknown when committee hearings about the budget would be held, Bernard said, but she thought it could be some time in March.

Board Vice Chair Bob Kirchherr predicted the state budget would continue to be a moving figure as negotiations between the legislature and the governor's office proceeded in the coming months.

Bernard said the consensus among the administrators at the WMMA meeting was the budget wouldn't be set until June.