LEWISTON – Leigh Ladieri teaches at Farwell School now, but 15 years ago, she taught in California, where the results of that state’s tax cap sent education into a downward spiral.

“Services were immediately cut; class sizes got larger,” said Ladieri, who taught 32 fifth- and sixth-graders in her last year as a classroom teacher. Music and art classes were eliminated and school nurses were shared among schools.

“California is still hurting, and I think that’s the kind of impact we’ll see here,” said Ladieri.

She and about 50 other people showed up at a Wednesday rally in Veterans Memorial Park to support the defeat of the Palesky tax cap. The citizen initiative, which faces voters Nov. 2, caps property taxes at $10 per $1,000 of assessed value.

Local firefighters, municipal workers, state employees and teachers carried colorful signs and applauded speakers who urged defeat of Question 1. Both Peter Geiger, vice president of Geiger, and Chip Morrison, president of the local Chamber of Commerce, spoke of the business implications if the proposal passes.

Geiger said the two things his company needs to succeed are a robust economy and a well-educated work force. He said he fears cuts initiated by the tax cap would hamper education, as well as deliver a tax windfall to out-of-staters. The resulting loss of revenues would have to be made up by Maine residents, probably through fees.

“This is a crapshoot of the worst kind,” he said.

Morrison said Androscoggin County would likely be hard hit by the cap, with projected revenue losses of 46 percent in Auburn, 54 percent in Lewiston and 51 percent in Lisbon. John Cleveland, former mayor of Auburn and an eight-year state senator, called the proposal “radical” and predicted a loss of local control, with communities no longer having the right to set their own tax rates.

“It shows no confidence in the citizens, no confidence in town meetings, or city councils,” said Cleveland.

Dan Seligman, an organizer for the Service Employees International Union, urged everyone to spread the word about Question 1 and encouraged people to sign up for door-to-door canvassing this weekend. He said about 50 volunteers were able to cover about half the area last weekend.

Ladieri said she’d already been out canvassing, but she might go again.

“I do feel strongly about it,” she said.