AUGUSTA (AP) – Maine’s excise tax on cars and trucks, the highest tax of its kind in the nation, has become a candidate for a rollback.

Several legislators are offering bills to scale back the tax, but some say they face an uphill battle because the bulk of the more than $200 million in revenue that it generates goes straight to cities and towns.

“We run around as elected officials saying we want to reduce taxes, and here’s a perfect opportunity,” said Rep. John McDonough, R-Scarborough, sponsor of one of the tax-cutting bills.

Maine is one of only 16 states that apply an excise tax to motor vehicles, although most other states use different types of vehicle taxes instead, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

Maine has a six-tier system for assessing the excise tax. The tax rate drops annually by specified amounts from $24 per $1,000 on the manufacturer’s list price for a new vehicle to $4 in the sixth year, where it remains for as long as the vehicle is registered.

One of the bills before lawmakers would exempt new vehicles from the tax for one year; another would cut $3,000 from the purchase price on each vehicle in calculating the tax; and a third would lower the top tax rate by $6 per $1,000 on the vehicle’s list price.

The Legislature’s Taxation Committee has scheduled a hearing on the proposals on March 13 at the State House.

Critics say that because the taxable value of the car or truck remain unchanged as the vehicle ages and the value is based on the manufacturer’s suggested retail price instead of the actual purchase price, the tax is inherently unfair.

“That doesn’t seem right,” said Bill Getty of Belgrade. Getty noted that if he buys a pair of sneakers, “my sales tax isn’t based on the suggested retail price” of the sneakers, but on the actual price he paid.

Deputy Secretary of State Catherine Curtis, who runs the state Bureau of Motor Vehicles, said it makes sense to tax a vehicle based on the manufacturer’s price in order to assure consistency and avoid giving a tax break to the motorist who got a better deal.

Curtis agrees, however, that the tax is not perfect. A few years ago, she served on a state task force that recommended lowering the top rate from $24 to $18, and slowing the gradual drop to the bottom rate, so it takes longer to hit the lowest rate than the current six years.

With the emphasis at the State House on cutting property taxes, Geoff Herman of the Maine Municipal Association doubts that the proposed cuts will garner much support.

“I think it’s a particularly tough year this year to make a change to the excise tax that will increase the property tax,” Herman said.

Still, at least one key lawmaker says excise-tax reform remains possible, even if it is not yet a priority among legislators.

“It hasn’t been on the front burner, but it’s early in the process, and maybe it should be,” said Sen. Joseph Perry, D-Bangor, who co-chairs the Legislature’s Taxation Committee. The excise tax eats up “a lot of money,” Perry said. “It hits people hard. It’s a tax people hate.”

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