The state of Maine owes the Maine Municipal Association and the Maine Education Association an enormous debt of gratitude for sponsoring the recent campaign for property tax relief and property tax reform. After 18 years of inaction by the Legislature and its steadfast refusal to do anything about Maine’s over-reliance on the property tax to fund state services (46 percent versus most other states’ 33 percent), there was a definite need to put this public policy problem front and center.

The MMA and MEA, working together, formulated 1A, a holistic, reformist, very fair and balanced plan to force the Legislature to meet its long-standing promise of funding 55 percent of the cost of K-12 education (compared to the 42 percent the state currently provides). The passage of 1A could have resulted in property tax cuts of 15 percent in those communities that decided to use the new revenues for that purpose.

Gov. Baldacci and some Legislative leaders, concerned over the timing and immediate nature of 1A, countered with another proposal (1B) that have funded approximately 50 percent of all education and 55 percent of so-called “core” education costs but would not achieve this goal for six or seven years.

But still other Legislative leaders, mostly Republican, insisted that both 1A and 1B were too expensive and ill timed and urged defeat of both measure. Proponents of 1C made much of the fact that they, too, favored property tax relief but wanted the opportunity for the Legislature to “do it right.”

The result was a healthy, up-beat policy dust-up with vigorous campaigns run by all three groups. The 1A forces were effectively and courageously led by Chris Lockwood for the MMA and Rob Walker, Mark Gray and Steve Crouse for the MEA. The 1A citizens group was spearheaded by outstanding tri-captains Dana Lee, Nick Mavodones, Jennifer Wixson and the able president of the MMA, Sue Lessard. She in turn was supported by the fine executive committee of Ryan Pelletier, Galen Larrabee, Oz Bonsey and John Bibber. Geoff Herman, Mike Starn, Jeff Nevins, Kate Dufour, Laura Veilleux, Theresa Chavarie, Denise Kolreg, Krystal Ashe O’Sullivan and Chuck Jackson did yeoman service as well. They took the message of tax reform to all corners of the state.

For their part, the 1B forces were well led by Dana Connors of the Maine Chamber of Commerce, Kay Rand, Larry Benoit, Pat Eltman, Sue Bell and, after one of the most expensive breakfasts in the history of Maine politics, they were joined by many of Maine’s business and production leaders herded by John Delahanty. 1B was also helped enormously by the active and on-going engagement of the governor. In fact, 1A was poised to achieve the necessary 50.1 percent of the vote until the very last week of the campaign when a strong TV commercial and appeal by Gov.Baldacci boosted 1B from a distant third place to a close second. The governor’s intervention was timely and decisive.

So 1A won the three-way race with 38 percent, but supporters of 1B could justly claim they had won as well, since their vigorous campaign and vote total of 35% percent prevented 1A from getting 50 percent, and the 1C proponents, led by Bob Stone, could – and did – argue that their 27 percent cost both 1A and 1B the chance to break 50 percent.

In November 2003, everybody won.

But here’s what is so interesting:

If one takes 1A and 1B’s total votes, it is clear that over seven out of 10 Maine voters (73 percent) want property tax relief and property tax reform so the campaigns of both really underscored the deep-seated concern throughout the state for the unbalanced reliance on the property tax. Seventy percent of Maine people rarely agree on anything, but here they voted in record numbers for property tax relief and property tax reform. So all those voters who favor property tax relief won and won an overwhelming mandate for change.

Where will that change come from? To his considerable credit and ongoing leadership, Gov. Baldacci wasted no time in reaching out to the 1A proponents, and even as this is written, proponents of 1A, 1B and even some from 1C are working on a “grand compromise” which could give the taxpayers of Maine much needed relief and a just reward for the voting patterns which showed such a strong majority of Maine voters in favor of property tax relief and reform. It will be a tough challenge in this year’s economy but it is achievable with goodwill and a willingness to truly compromise and think outside the box on the part of all parties.

Will the Legislature go along with “a grand compromise” or even help craft one? One hopes so. Proponents of 1C argued that only the Legislature could solve the delicate and tricky issues of property tax reform. Now is their chance to weigh in with positive recommendations. It remains to be seen whether that was simply campaign rhetoric or a genuine statement of principle and purpose. Only if the Legislature rises to the occasion and gets serious about meaningful property tax reform and relief will the 73 percent of Maine voters have truly won. Does the Maine Legislature have the guts and vision to tackle this much-needed reform in an election year?

We would all like to think so, but we will all have to be shown that our citizen Legislature is truly up to the task. During the fall campaign, the Legislative leaders were adamant that they wanted a chance to fix the out-of-whack property system.

Now they have it.

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