AUGUSTA (AP) – The political odds may be against her, but Rep. Barbara Merrill thinks her proposal to merge Maine’s 16 counties into eight as a first step toward easing Maine’s property tax burden is with the times.

“I do not think I am tilting at windmills,” said Merrill, D-Appleton. “Good ideas often wait for years until the moment of opportunity. The public outcry for property tax reform has created such a moment and we should all be determined to use it not just to shift how we pay for government, but to actually save taxpayers’ money.”

The freshman lawmaker, who pitched her plan last month to a legislative panel working to craft a property tax reform bill, sees changes at the county level as a logical starting point.

“Property tax reform must start with the reform of county government,” Merrill told the committee, “because it is the fastest-growing service which is dependent on property taxes.”

Municipal governments have held the line with increases at close to the rate of inflation during the past decade, she said, while the cost of operating the state’s 16 county governments “has gone up three times faster than inflation.”

Because the per-person cost of county government is lowest in the most populous counties, Merrill bases her proposed merger on geography, population and valuation.

For example, when county jail costs are subtracted, Kennebec County residents pay $47.63 for county services on an annual, per-person basis, while residents of Piscataquis County pay $149.48.

Based on population or property valuation, Merrill said, “no one starting new in the 21st century would align our counties in their current configurations.”

Her plan would consolidate Waldo, Knox, Lincoln and Sagadahoc counties, giving them a total valuation of $14.6 billion and a combined population of 149,838. That would be significantly less than Cumberland, with a population of 270,930 and a valuation of $26.4 billion.

Other proposed mergers would include Washington and Hancock; Penobscot and Piscataquis; Kennebec and Somerset; and Androscoggin, Oxford and Franklin.

Aroostook, Cumberland and York counties would remain free-standing.

“Our geography does not let us come close to equalizing (costs), but we can create counties which have the population, valuation and income to support county services and provide them in an efficient fashion,” Merrill said.

Jail and countywide law enforcement costs make up the biggest share of county budgets, and Merrill would like to see the state pay for county jails. Other county government functions include registry of deeds, probate court and emergency management agencies.

Bob Howe, executive director of the Maine County Commissioners Association, is skeptical about Merrill’s proposal.

“I don’t think it’s politically feasible,” he said. The effort will end up being “a major distraction, politically,” Howe added, and could waste valuable legislative time.

Consolidating Maine’s 491 municipalities might make more sense, he said.

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Information from: Bangor Daily News, http://www.bangornews.com

AP-ES-01-03-05 1352EST