Tax reform was supposed to be the top priority for the 121st Legislature, but no reform emerged at the close of the session. In fact, legislators dissolved pieces of the governor’s reform package they didn’t believe voters could stomach.

Lawmakers are now getting serious because the Maine Municipal Association’s seemingly popular tax reform proposal will be on the November ballot. It’s a proposal the administration does not support, so a measure must be crafted to compete with it.

This is not collaboration. It’s a test of will.

Citizens have demanded tax reform and the state is obliging.

We might get reform, but no matter what lawmakers do to massage the tax structure, we won’t get relief.

Let’s be realistic. Maine has a certain number of bills to pay and a certain amount of money flowing in. If we lower the amount of tax collected on properties – individual and industry – we will have to raise the tax collected elsewhere – or cut programs.

Maine says it has, for several months, cut programs to the quick and can’t afford to cut any more. If that’s really true, we must preserve the tax stream.

We may trade lower property taxes for higher sales and income taxes.

That’s reality. Reform will not equal relief.

In fact, what we end up with may actually cost more.

The MMA proposal, which gained instant credibility when 100,000 voters signed petitions on a single day to get it on the ballot, will require the state to pay its full and long-promised 55 percent share of education costs and 100 percent of special education costs.

The state says it can’t afford the cost.

The Taxation Committee is instead suggesting reworking the school funding formula, with an eye toward keeping municipal payments minimal.

If the state can’t afford the MMA proposal, which is certainly not minimal, how can it afford a more forgiving structure?

Any mandate that requires the state to pay 55 percent or more of education will force government to come up with new money in the state budget. Maine will, of course, look to taxpayers for that money. And, there is no requirement that savings realized by towns be passed on to property owners.

Towns could, quite legitimately, use the cash influx to pay for projects, like highway garages and fire stations, that have long waited for funding. So, property owners may continue paying high property tax bills and may then also be looking at additional pressure from the state to pay for schools.

There is no question that Mainers want and need tax relief. But, a task that was unmanageable in nearly six months of committee work will now be squeezed into two desperate weeks to craft a defensive measure to compete with MMA.

That’s certainly reform in the way the state has traditionally developed the tax structure. But it is unlikely it will translate into the kind of relief we want, if it’s any relief at all.


[email protected]