LINCOLN PLANTATION – An opponent of the proposed Taxpayer Bill of Rights will give a presentation to Oxford County municipal officers this evening in Wilsons Mills Village, informing municipal leaders about what she said could be the negative outcomes of the bill.

And last week, supporters of the bill organized a reception in Norway for business leaders and local officials with TABOR representatives to advocate for the citizen-initiated petition.

Parties on both sides of the tax measure are gearing up in Western Maine to get their word out on the petition before voters head to the polls Nov. 7.

TABOR, which will appear as Question 1 on the statewide ballot, would not allow state and local governments to increase taxes above the combined inflation and population growth rates without voter approval.

Several officials from the area said they are planning to attend the meeting Wednesday night, a regular monthly event for Oxford County Municipal Officers Association, although some admitted they have already made up their minds.

“I am opposed to it, absolutely,” Paris Selectman Raymond Glover said Tuesday. Glover argued that residents already have control over their municipal budget through the town meeting system. He also said he views the bill’s requirement for a two-thirds majority to approve any spending over the TABOR limits as a violation of the majority-rules principal of democracy.

Norway Selectman Les Flanders echoed Glover. “I think TABOR is a terrible idea. The concept is right, it is just the wrong way of going about it,” he said. “At the town level, citizens can have a great deal to say about the budget beforehand, it is not as if it is being crammed down their throats. We only do what the citizens want.”

The Maine Municipal Association, which represents local government interests, has come out strongly against the proposed bill. MMA representative Kate Dufour will give the talk at the county officers’ meeting Wednesday night at Aziscohos Grange Hall on Route 16.

“We’ve been meeting with our members, municipal leaders, to illustrate what we think the problems are as it has been addressed,” Dufour said Tuesday. “We’ve been on the road since early this month from Aroostock County to York County.”

SAD 17 Superintendent Mark Eastman said the local school board has started discussing the issue, but would not vote on a resolution for or against the petition until Oct. 16.

“We have serious reservations about some parts of the law that are very confusing,” he said. “We’re trying to understand the impact on our school.”

Supporters of the bill last week invited business leaders and town officials to a reception at the Norway Country Club with TABOR representatives.

Suzanne Grover of Grover Gundrilling in Norway said she supports the bill. “It is going to give the people the say of putting control on the monies that our legislators and our state can spend. It is going to give them a say in what is happening.”

Grover said TABOR will help businesses stay in Maine by reducing the tax load on them and on all taxpayers, which in turn will boost the economy, and keep young people in the state.

Paris Town Manager Sharon Jackson said she might go to the meeting Wednesday, as well as to another MMA meeting in Bethel for town managers Friday.

“I want to get a little more educated on all of the insides of it,” Jackson said.

Norway Town Manager David Holt said he would do as the citizens willed.

“I am a paid citizen. I get paid to do whatever citizens vote,” he said. “If they vote for TABOR, we’ll try to make it work.”