By David Farmer,Staff Writer

LEWISTON – A poll released Thursday showed strong support among Mainers for a citizen’s initiative to limit government spending and taxes.

Among those asked, 75 percent said they were likely to support a bill similar to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, a number consistent with results from a poll in the fall of 2005 when 78 percent said they supported the idea.

Only 21 percent said they would be unlikely to support a similar bill.

The Taxpayer Bill of Rights will appear on November’s ballot asking voters: “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?”

The poll also measured awareness of TABOR. Fifty-one percent said they knew it would be on the ballot this fall; of those, 53 percent said they were likely to support it. Twenty-one percent said they were unlikely to support it, and 26 percent said they were neutral or didn’t know.

Of those not aware of the question, 42 percent still said they would support TABOR. Eleven percent said they were unlikely to support it and 47 percent said they were neutral or didn’t know.

“The survey reflects what I’m finding,” said Mary Adams, the tax activist who led the effort to get TABOR on November’s ballot. “People are responding to the reasonableness of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights.”

Initiative opponents had a different take.

“We’re not surprised that this poll shows us behind in our effort to defeat the ill-conceived Taxpayer Bill of Rights,” said Larry Benoit, campaign manager for Citizens United To Protect Our Public Safety, Schools and Communities, an anti-TABOR organization. “But we’re confident that once people realize the impact this will have on our schools, on our communities and public safety, they’ll reject it in November.”

In November 2004, Question 1 on the ballot asked voters if they wanted to “limit property taxes to 1 percent of the assessed value of property.” That question, which became known as the Palesky initiative after it’s lead sponsor, Carol Palesky, also polled well.

In a May 2004 Critical Insights poll, the initiative had the support of 59 percent of respondents. Ultimately, the measure was defeated, 63 percent to 37 percent.

“The Taxpayer Bill of Rights is a very simple proposal,” Adams said. “It puts taxpayers in charge of taxes. Palesky was very confusing and its opponents were able to poke holes in it because it was so complicated.”

Adams said she expects the strong support found by the May poll to last through Election Day.

“People are ready for this,” she said. “The state’s tax burden has had a stunning effect on our economy.”

In a written statement, Benoit challenged the poll’s accuracy.

“The accuracy of the Critical Insights poll as a true reflection of voter sentiment is also questionable. The poll did not ask the actual ballot question that voters will face, but a different question that puts the issue in a much more favorable light. And it’s not clear if the poll screened for ‘most likely voters,’ which would produce a much different outcome if the vote was actually held today.”

The question asked by Critical Insights was: “How likely would you be to support a tax and expenditure limitation bill that would be intended to slow the spending by our state and local governments so that they would be in line with the annual economic indicators of inflation combined with population growth?”

A message left with pollster MaryEllen FitzGerald Thursday was not immediately returned.

The poll of 604 people was conducted May 24-30.

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