The leader of a tax revolt predicts victory.
TOPSHAM – The phone rings often in Carol Palesky’s home office.
It’s been that way since Feb. 9 when the state verified her Maine Taxpayers Action Network collected enough signatures to place the property tax cap question on the ballot.
The question, “Do you want to limit property tax to 1 percent of the assessed value of the property?” will be on the November ballot, unless state lawmakers vote to place it on the June ballot.
“People are excited,” Palesky said. Some calls are from the media or civic groups asking her to speak. Some call wanting to help. In the last two weeks the number of network followers has surged from about 2,000 to 25,000, Palesky said.
She gets 50 to 75 e-mails a day. After speaking in front of the Portland Chamber “Eggs and Issues” last week, a man told her he was impressed with what she said and gave the network a check for $5,000, Palesky said.
There’s a “taxpayer revolt mentality” going on in Maine because property taxes “have doubled and tripled. People can’t afford their taxes,” she said. Meanwhile the state has done little.
While everyone from Gov. John Baldacci to municipal leaders call the ballot question irresponsible and warn passage would mean closing schools, Palesky and her supporters disagree. They say homeowners are being overtaxed and are desperate for relief.
Palesky, 63, is a self-employed accountant. The grandmother of four, she’s tried twice but failed in the last decade to get a tax relief referendum on the statewide ballot. Successful on her third try, Palesky said thanks are owed to 300 volunteers who, during the last year, stood outside stores and collected signatures.
Understanding that she’s tapped into taxpayer anger, that her name is mentioned often by State House officials who worry her referendum will pass, Palesky predicts it will pass. “Or I’ll eat my hat,” she said with a grin as she popped a “SUPPORT 1% + TAX CAP” baseball cap on her head.
Getting involved
Palesky first decided to do something about lowering property taxes when her own town conducted a re-evaluation in 1991. Tax bills went up so much, she said, “people were shocked. Everyone was appealing their bill.”
Many homeowners waited until the last day to pay their bills, lining up out the door and around the town hall. That day, the man standing in line behind Palesky had tears in his eyes when he told her his tax bill more than doubled. He said he had a disabled wife at home and, after he paid his bill, he wouldn’t be able to buy her prescriptions or heating oil.
The man’s story haunted her. That night she thought aloud, “Why doesn’t somebody do something about this? This is awful! Who’s looking back in the mirror at me but myself? That’s when I decided to get involved.”
Life after jail
Palesky is no stranger to the limelight. Pointing to her background, her critics question her credibility.
She made headlines in 1987 when convicted for theft from a former employer. Earlier that year Palesky was found innocent by reason of insanity of bank robbery.
In 1997 Palesky was convicted of aggravated forgery for tampering with election petitions in a citizen initiative to cap property taxes. Palesky insists she was convicted of possessing altered documents that had the dates changed, that she did no tampering herself.
She was sentenced to nine months and placed on probation for four years. Among the conditions was that she not take part in any petition process, including state or local ballot initiatives. Those four years expired in 2002. Palesky and the network began collecting signatures about a year ago.
In 1998, Palesky served seven months in the Kennebec County Jail. “I don’t know how I made it,” she said. Time in jail didn’t deter her efforts to lower taxes. Palesky credits her mother for instilling her with determination. Her mother used to tell her not to give up, if she fell off a horse “get on it again.” She continued her tax activist work “because I feel so passionate about this. People in Maine need tax relief. Somebody has to do it.”
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