MEXICO – Selectmen voted unanimously at Wednesday night’s board meeting to not only oppose the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, but to work to defeat it by informing residents about its potential negative impacts.

In the two-page resolution, the board also authorized Town Manager John Madigan and other municipal staff to participate in any activities deemed necessary to oppose TABOR.

“The thing that really concerns me is the erosion of our local control. They’re blindsiding people,” Madigan said after the meeting.

TABOR, which places strict limits on the ability of state and local government to raise and spend money, will appear on the Nov. 7 ballot as Question 1.

Reading the resolution, which was drafted by the Maine Municipal Association, Madigan rattled off a list of issues that would directly affect Mexico. Some of these state that TABOR:

• Creates poorly designed and irrational budget restriction formulas that attempt to dictate the amount of money local voters can raise and spend to provide municipal and school services, directly interfering with local control over crucial budget decisions;

• Relies on questionable population and economic data to establish annual spending limits, applying one formula to all of Maine’s 489 unique municipalities;

• Would abolish Maine’s long tradition of majority rule by requiring a two-thirds vote of approval by every town meeting to override the TABOR spending restriction, or increase the property tax rate or any user fee by so much as a penny, or authorize significant capital investments;

• Does not allow voters of the community to adopt an ordinance or charter that would suspend, amend or repeal any of the budget formulas or governance procedures dictated by TABOR; and

• Threatens the quality of life not only in the community, but across the state through less investment in transportation and other infrastructure, job creation, research and development, education and public health.

Madigan said TABOR would also restrict the ability of Maine’s government to fulfill its obligation to contribute 55 percent of the cost of kindergarten through 12th grade education, and maintain other commitments to local government.