MECHANIC FALLS – A town task force, dealing with potential effects of a property tax cap, concluded Wednesday that the only constant would be continued inertia from the state Legislature.

“Somewhere along the line, it would be interesting to have a state rep here,” said Bonnie Payette, task force and Budget Committee member. “How are (legislators) going to enforce their mandates, if we don’t have the money to do it.”

Payette and fellow task force members consider the November referendum, which would limit property taxes to 1 percent of property valuation, a serious possibility because of voter frustration with government.

Local officials want a plan in place if the referendum, referred to as the Carol Palesky tax cap, passes. And they aren’t counting on state legislators to provide any guidance, relief, or reductions in mandates.

“Look at Question 1,” said Payette. “It’s a joke. They’re never going to do anything with that, and we can assume that that’s not even on the table right now.”

Question 1, passed by voters earlier this year, calls for the state budget to fund 55 percent of Maine’s total regular education costs, in addition to funding 100 percent of special education costs, and to reforming property tax law. State legislators have yet to address the implementation of Question 1.

In the meantime, the local task force wants to give Mechanic Falls residents information on what services they can expect with the reduction in town revenue should the Palesky referendum pass.

Mechanic Falls currently has a tax base of about $88 million. State adjustments to the town’s figures to account for 100 percent of current property value would give the town a base of about $118 million.

Local officials are assuming that the town’s $105,529 in debt payments each year will be allowed outside the 1 percent tax cap, leaving about $1.28 million to fund municipal and school functions instead of the current $2.45 million. The town receives about $800,000 from other sources such as excise taxes and other fees, according to Town Manager Dana Lee’s latest figures.

The task force, composed of the town’s Budget Committee members, has accepted the challenge of prioritizing town and school services to fall within the revenue limit of a potential tax cap.

After two-and-a-half hours of poring over numbers and information Wednesday, members agreed to make their own recommendations and return Sept. 8 to compare notes.

“I hope we will put together a neutral scenario of what’s best of the community,” said Payette.

Lee and Elm Street School Principal Mary Martin initiated the task force to remove perceptions of political recommendations or motivations.

“We’ve already figured out what our recommendations would be,” said Lee. “But a lot of it is value-based. We want to keep it entirely real and factual.”

Ed Piirainen, also on the task force, wanted to find out which local services at the minimal level were required by law. Beyond those services, Piirainen said that people could choose what they’re willing to live without.

“I’m not looking at if something works or not,” said Piirainen. “I’m not even looking at if something makes sense. I just want to know what do we have to do, what can we do, and then people can choose.”

Lee and Martin pointed out that pinpointing mandated services and attaching exact dollar figures to them may prove impossible.

“For example, the state says we have to have a physical education program,” said Martin. “But it doesn’t say we have to have a phys ed teacher.”

While Payette doubted that any information or recommendations from the task force will change voters’ minds, fellow task force member Eileen Hotham hoped for the opposite.

“I want to be informative,” said Hotham. “Hopefully it will make a difference in how people vote in November.”