AUBURN – It doesn’t make sense for cities to plan what to do if a controversial tax cap passes, according to Lewiston’s Jim Bennett.

Lewiston would lose between 60 and 89 percent of its property tax revenues, making it nearly impossible to run a city, the city administrator said. Worrying about it after it passes would be too late.

“I don’t see any point in planning what to do if it passes, because I really don’t have any choices then,” Bennett said.

Portland Mayor Nathan Smith was just as blunt. He would expect bond rating agencies to cancel the credit for virtually every Maine municipality, if the property tax cap passes. He expects city bankruptcies statewide, huge layoffs and the worst recession in years.

“And this really would be the gut-shot to the state tourism industry,” Smith said. “I think the people that support this really underestimate the impact it would have.”

The next logical step for municipal leaders across the state is to make sure the measure doesn’t pass. That was the consensus Thursday night of a group of councilors and city managers from Maine’s three largest cities – Auburn, Lewiston and Portland. Auburn councilors hosted and bought dinner for their colleagues at the city’s Hilton Garden Inn.

The evening gave Auburn a chance to show off the new hotel, completed last summer. But discussions never strayed far from the various property tax relief measures being discussed.

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. The cap would allow cities to levy $10 in property taxes per $1,000 of value, based on 1997 assessments. Values can be adjusted for properties that have been sold or renovated since 1997.

That would mean millions of dollars of cuts for Maine cities.

“And expecting the state to step in and find the dollars to replace those revenues is a pipe dream,” Portland Councilor Jim Cloutier said.

John Melrose of the Maine Service Center Coalition said legislators are not actively discussing the cap. With less than a month left in the current legislative session, Melrose said lawmakers in Augusta are focused on setting the state budget

“The sentiment now is that they need to get the budget settled before they deal with anything else,” Melrose said.

But both legislators and Gov. John Baldacci favor putting the cap on the June ballot, he said. Legislators are also discussing some sort of alternative to the cap.

“Our position is that they need to draft something in advance and have it passed into law and not place something on the ballot,” Melrose said. “Our legislators really need to step up and show some leadership.”

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