LEWISTON – It could be Christmas this July for homeowners if state legislators pass Gov. John Baldacci’s tax plan, according to Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett, who called the plan “a big step in the right direction.”

But critics, including Tax Cap Yes! and the Maine Municipal Association, are questioning whether the plan has the real relief the governor is promising.

If legislators pass it as proposed, property taxes in Lewiston would go down this July, Bennett said Friday. He added that the tax relief in the proposal, as he understands it, is real and meaningful.

The state now spends $740 million a year for K-12 education. Part of the plan is to spend $250 million more in two years, and 90 percent of that would have to be used to lower tax bills. “That’s significant,” Bennett said.

But legislators have to act fast.

Petitions are circulating for more tax reform referendum questions on the November ballot. The deadline for those petitions is Jan. 20. If the signatures are validated, that would mean any similar bill legislators pass would have to be a competing measure on the ballot, said Baldacci spokesman Lee Umphrey.

That’s why legislators have put the tax relief bill on the fast track, quickly naming a special committee to examine the plan starting Tuesday, and scheduling a public hearing for Dec. 14 – weeks before legislators convene on Jan. 4.

Bennett, who met with the governor on Monday to hear about the plan, gave the tax relief proposal a grade of a “strong B plus.”

Others aren’t so pleased.

Tax Cap Yes! spokesman Phil Harriman gave Baldacci’s plan a grade of “incomplete.”

“It would have been more bold and historic if he explained how he was going to cut the growth of government, find $700 million to balance the current budget, then boldly tell us how he’d accommodate the much needed tax relief that was promised,” Harriman said Friday.

The governor and legislative leaders are telling people that property tax relief is coming, but Harriman said: “How?”

“They’re ignoring that the state budget is already in deep red ink. I’m glad tax relief is a priority,” Harriman said. “But let’s be candid. We’ve got to put our current budget in balance.”

Harriman also questioned the goal of giving direct tax relief to anyone paying 6 percent of their household income on taxes. “The national average is 3.2 percent,” he said. And to offer reverse mortgages to help people pay their taxes “is not tax relief,” Harriman said.

The Maine Municipal Association also has problems with the plan, and also gave it a grade of “incomplete.”

Language in Baldacci’s plan creates “imbalances” on spending caps for the state, the schools, county government and municipalities, said MMA spokesman Geoffrey Herman. For instance, language in Baldacci’s plan allows the state to be exempt from the spending limit if demand for critical services increase, but municipalities would not be allowed any exemptions, Herman said.

“What’s good for the goose is good for the gander,” he said. The MMA plans to submit competing legislation to fix that and other issues.

Baldacci disagreed Friday, saying Herman “needs to read” the legislation. Baldacci said the state is limiting its spending, and that there are exemptions for municipalities as well. He added that the 90 percent of the $250 million it’s giving to municipalities does not count as state spending under the cap, because the money is going back to taxpayers.

Herman also said that Baldacci’s plan also does not reform the state’s tax code, something that needs to happen. The MMA legislation may seek to broaden the sales tax and look at other reform, Herman said.