Democrats have proposed raising the sales tax by a penny.

AUGUSTA (AP) – Senate Democrats restated their plan to hike Maine’s sales tax by a penny to finance expanded property tax relief measures Monday and Gov. John Baldacci reaffirmed his opposition.

“A real honest proposal has to come with real money,” Senate President Beverly Daggett, D-Augusta, said at a news conference at which she described the Democratic Senate majority as unanimously supportive of the increased sales tax plan.

The Democratic governor, who has signaled he might countenance a Democratic House plan that would raise the cigarette tax, continued to reject a higher sales tax.

“I appreciate the efforts and we need to work together but it’s just too much,” Baldacci said.

One day before the full Legislature was scheduled to reconvene, prospects for a breakthrough in the multisided debate over tax reform remained unclear.

“Everybody’s got a plan. Nobody’s got the votes,” said Rep. Peter Mills, R-Cornville, who has been working with the Baldacci administration to explore constitutional spending caps that Republican lawmakers have been seeking and that Baldacci and Democratic House Speaker Patrick Colwell have agreed to discuss.

The Appropriations Committee, meanwhile, sat down to consider what limited funding options were left for individual pieces of legislation that were not included in a supplemental budget package awaiting final action by the House and Senate.

Separately, the Baldacci administration released a monthly revenue report Monday that showed the General Fund through March running ahead of projections by $6.8 million, or 0.4 percent.

The year-to-date showing was buoyed by March receipts that came in $6.1 million, or 4.2 percent, over budget.

Baldacci administration officials attributed most of the March gain to sales and use tax revenue, which exceeded expectations for the month by $4 million.

“While the state labor market holds steady, taxable sales continue to grow much better than anticipated,” the administration’s monthly report said. “Overall taxable sales grew by 6 percent in February (March revenue) compared to the same time last year.”

The Appropriations Committee on Monday also approved financial orders authorizing transfers of $1.1 million to cover General Assistance payments and $2 million to meet Child Welfare Services costs through June 30.

The sales tax hike proposed by Senate Democrats is designed to bring in more than $115 million annually.

Under the plan, $29 million would go to local school aid, with $18 million more channeled into an education stabilization fund that could be drawn on to help fund future school aid increases.

A total of $52 million from higher sales tax revenue would bolster property tax relief programs already on the books.

In addition, $6 million would be targeted for municipalities and $10 million would be set aside to spur economic growth.

AP-ES-04-26-04 1612EDT