AUGUSTA (AP) – The Baldacci administration offered an upbeat assessment Tuesday of the first-year impact of the property tax relief package enacted in the wake of a citizen initiative demanding more state aid for public schools.

Administration officials said the opportunity for actual tax relief appeared to be widespread, but that data were still being analyzed by the state tax department.

Noting that state appropriations for both years of the current budget cycle were held within statutory limits, an outside report released by the administration found that 60 percent of the municipalities feeling the full effects of the new law had held the line on property tax levies while only 31 percent of local schools systems had met their targets.

“It recognizes that while we’ve made progress, we still have more work to do,” said Gov. John Baldacci, who is running for re-election after embracing public calls for local tax relief and seeking to make the issue his own.

Aiming to lower the tax burden in Maine, Baldacci and the Legislature agreed last year to boost the state’s share of local school costs to 55 percent by 2009 and to establish spending caps for the state, its 489 municipalities and 16 counties, and for local schools.

In addition, the measure enacted as LD 1 increased property tax rebates, making 225,000 Maine residents eligible for additional aid.

Annual reports are required from the State Planning Office. The initial analysis released Tuesday was prepared by Associate Professor Todd Gabe of the University of Maine.

Gabe was an author of a 2004 study that suggested a tax cap proposal that was ultimately rejected by Maine voters that year could in fact lead to new taxes and reductions in what residents would get for their tax dollars.

The impact of LD 1, Gabe said in his new report, is still being felt.

“Anecdotal evidence obtained from the State Planning Office surveys suggests that some confusion exists about the limits imposed by LD 1, especially in smaller municipalities,” he wrote.

“In future years, as public officials and Maine citizens become better acquainted with LD 1, a higher proportion of municipalities and school administrative units may stay within the limits. In addition, state government will increase its share of local education funding to 55 percent by FY 2009.

“The first year of experience shows that, based on a sample of municipalities, the increased state subsidies provided for local education are contributing to a reduction in municipal government spending. If this continues into the future, further reductions in local government spending are possible.”

Gabe added that “the quality of data available for assessment purposes is likely to improve in future years.”

Baldacci’s relatively cautious claim of success received a strong second from a prominent fellow Democrat, House Speaker John Richardson.

“Today’s news shows that Governor Baldacci and the Maine Legislature were right in passing LD 1 as a means to provide local property tax reductions to Maine people,” the Brunswick lawmaker said in a statement.

“The election year critics of these efforts are not looking at the facts. The fact is that the expanded Circuit Breaker is lowering the municipal property taxes for a large portion of Maine homeowners. The facts also show that the long term approach of controlling spending at all levels and increasing the states share of local education costs is already slowing the pace of property tax increases for Maine people.”

A separate analysis of LD 1 effects is being readied for release by the Maine Municipal Association, which championed the original initiative to boost school aid, and the Maine State Chamber of Commerce.

MMA lobbyist Geoff Herman said Tuesday that study showed that the growth in property tax collections by cities and towns under the new law was running at 2.53 percent, less than a real growth in total personal income of 2.58 percent.

“The municipal response to LD 1 came in under the growth rate, which is what the goal is,” Herman said.

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