PARIS – The Legislature’s Taxation Committee needs to come up with a tax reform plan, and fast.

That’s the opinion of state Rep. Sawin Millett Jr., R-Waterford, who has organized a local forum on tax reform in his role as the legislative chairman of the Oxford Hills Chamber of Commerce.

The forum, featuring a panel of state tax experts, will be held at 7:30 p.m. March 17 at Oxford Hills Comprehensive High School in Paris.

“The forum is timely because this subject is the most important issue now pending before the Maine Legislature,” Millett said Monday.

He said the Legislature has eight weeks, until the current session ends, to come up with a proposal to put before voters on June 8, when the Maine Municipal Association’s plan to fund 55 percent of state education spending goes back before voters.

“People may well be frustrated enough” to pass the MMA proposal, which failed to get a majority vote last fall, he said.

The House member said the issue has been made even more important since last month, when activist Carol Palesky initiated a 1 percent tax cap initiative that may go before voters in November. Other rival tax reform plans have since surfaced.

Millett has invited state Sen. Richard Nass, R-Acton, to speak at the March 17 forum. Nass is a member of the Legislature’s Taxation Committee, and will talk about the committee’s perspectives on the current tax reform debate.

Other guest panelists will include state economist Laurie Lachance, and State Planning Office Director Martha Freeman. Lachance will talk about the “essential elements of comprehensive tax reform,” and Freeman will present Gov. John Baldacci’s tax relief proposals.

The forum will conclude with a question and answer period.

Millett said the forum will offer local residents “an excellent opportunity to learn where the governor and Legislature stand on future tax policy in Maine, and how that will impact business owners and taxpayers in the Oxford Hills.”

Residents attending the forum will also be able to learn about, discuss and provide feedback on the various tax reform proposals that have been put forward, and the differing philosophical and political positions being taken by the governor and legislators.

John Williams, executive director of the Chamber of Commerce, said both businesses and residents of the Oxford Hills need to be informed and then talk frankly about how tax policies affect their lives now and in the future.

“We can make plans to bring business to the area through development, and land acquisition,” Williams said. “But if tax policies are not reformed, then who will be interested in coming?”

Those planning to attend the free forum are asked to register by calling the chamber at 743-2281.