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?

PORTLAND (AP) – For the second time in two years, Mainers will vote on an initiative that aims to rein in government spending and cut taxes, but which opponents say will slash government services and do nothing to help the state’s lagging economy.

If approved in the Nov. 7 election, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights would limit spending at all levels of government to the rate of inflation plus population growth, while requiring voter approval for all tax and fee increases.

Mary Adams, a 68-year-old grandmother from Garland, pop. 1,200, spearheaded the signature drive to get the question on the ballot. She led a similar referendum initiative 30 years ago that overturned the statewide property tax.

Government, Adams maintains, has been spending at an unsustainable rate, causing high taxes and hurting the economy.

Opponents are making the same arguments they used when arguing against a 2004 tax cap referendum, which failed at the polls by a nearly 2-to-1 margin.

If voters approve the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, or TABOR, schools will suffer, roads will fall into disrepair, police and fire departments will be underfunded, opponents say. The measure takes away local control and will hurt – not help – the economy, they say.

The Maine referendum is one of many nationwide that attempt to limit taxes or government spending, according to the Washington-based National Taxpayers Union.

Proposals to limit state government spending are on the ballot in Nebraska and Oregon. Initiatives in South Dakota, Washington, South Carolina, New Jersey and Arizona deal with property, inheritance and sales taxes, and even taxes on cell phones, said Pete Sepp, spokesman for the group, which supports lower taxes.

The Maine Heritage Policy Center, a conservative think tank, crafted the language for TABOR using as its model Colorado, which adopted a version of a Taxpayers’ Bill of Rights in 1992.

On the Web

taxpayerbillofrights.com www.notabor.org