AUGUSTA (AP) – Activists pushing for a referendum on whether to place new restrictions on state spending said they will submit petitions today calling for a statewide vote in November 2006.

Taxpayer Bill of Rights activists said Thursday they were prepared to turn in the required 50,519 certified voters’ signatures needed by today’s deadline to force a vote. The petitions must be reviewed by the Secretary of State’s office to ensure they are authentic and meet other requirements.

The effort is led by anti-tax activist Mary Adams of Garland, who led a successful initiative to repeal a state property tax in 1977.

The new proposal, modeled after a Colorado law, would limit growth in state spending by linking expenditures to increases in population and inflation. It would also require two-thirds votes in the Legislature and voter approval for measures to boost revenue.

The initiative effort comes months after the Legislature enacted a property tax reform law that includes spending limits applying to state government and restricts the growth of county and municipal tax levies. Adams has characterized those caps as inadequate.

The Maine Municipal Association, which has pressed for increased state public school aid as a way to ease a property tax burden, opposes the Taxpayer Bill of Rights approach.

Using population changes as a baseline is unworkable for towns and cities, and the measure’s requirements for local authorization of increases are “overkill,” MMA’s Geoff Herman said Thursday. He also said that the restrictions on state spending would require a constitutional amendment.

The petitions were being prepared for delivery as a national tax activist group released a study that supports the Maine initiative.

The Americans for Prosperity Foundation said Maine taxpayers have been denied at least $4.8 billion in tax relief since 1988 due to the lack of a taxpayer’s bill of rights law.

The report, written by University of Colorado Economics Professor Barry Poulson, also says the state would have amassed $270 million in “Rainy Day” funds to help bail out budget shortfalls if a Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights had been in effect.

The Taxpayer Bill of Rights question asks: “Do you want to limit increases in state and local government spending to the rate of inflation plus population growth and to require voter approval for all tax and fee increases?”

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On the Net:

Secretary of State’s Office: http://www.maine.gov/sos/cec/elec/pets02/legbillr.htm