LEWISTON – Two local organizations added their voices to the growing opposition to the proposed Palesky tax cap that will be on the Nov. 2 ballot.

“Passage of Palesky would put our communities on life support,” said Chip Morrison, president of the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce. He was speaking on behalf of the Chamber and the Lewiston Auburn Economic Growth Council.

The controversial referendum that would limit property taxes to 1 percent of assessed value has been denounced by municipal officials and many politicians as too radical. They predict passage would mean massive cutbacks in education systems and public safety services. Proponents say the measure is needed to force Augusta to deal with a crippling tax burden that is already chilling progress in the state.

But the speakers assembled on Lisbon Street Thursday afternoon were united in their assessment that passage of Palesky would be bad for business.

“Businesspeople hate uncertainty even more than they hate to pay taxes,” said Kathie Leonard, CEO of Auburn Manufacturing and vice chairwoman of the LAEGC board of directors.

Leonard said any businessperson looking to make an investment in L-A would likely change their mind by the potential of massive cuts in city services. Likewise, the tax cap would tie the hands of local economic developers who need flexibility and access to capital to spur investments such as the Hilton Garden Inn and Wal-Mart distribution center.

“As our grandparents said, Sometimes you have to spend money to make money,'” she said.

Ann Craigs, co-owner of Employment Times, said attempts to make up for the shortfall in municipal revenues would likely come in two guises: new taxes and fees for services.

The tax cap “is not the way to create tax reform in Maine. It’s bad policy,” she said.

Morrison said the two organizations not only decided to issue a joint resolution to defeat the tax cap, but also pledged to put “unprecedented” pressure on legislators during the next session to create meaningful tax reform. The Chamber has called for significant tax reform from Augusta for the last eight years and has been frustrated by the lack of progress, said Morrison.

He said the grass-roots effort will be modeled after the Koch initiative of a couple of years ago that successfully changed the way workers comp claims were assessed. The state Chamber of Commerce also opposes the Palesky tax cap and has proposed its own tax relief plan that ties property taxes to income and caps government spending.