AUGUSTA – It would be devastating to the small town of Otisfield if Gov. John Baldacci’s bill to freeze property taxes were to pass, Selectman Mark Cyr said Monday evening.

It would give waterfront property owners a huge tax break, disproportionate to land-locked property owners, Cyr said. Waterfront landowners in Otisfield saw an increase of 12 percent in property taxes from 2000 to 2006. All others saw an increase of 6 percent, he said.

It would also prevent young couples from being able to buy property in the town, Cyr said.

After all of that, residents’ taxes would not go down, they would merely shift, as the town would have to raise tax rates to meet the demands of town, county and school budgets.

Cyr’s concerns were echoed by others in a public hearing in front of the state’s joint committee on taxation. Several showed up to praise the new plan. Lawmakers on the committee said their constituents were glad they were doing something for tax relief.

The sentiment was the same among many of the proponents: tax the out-of-staters.

“The governor talked before about tax reform and needing this piece in it,” said Sen. Joseph Perry, D- Bangor, the bill’s sponsor. “He told me ‘just give the taxpayers a break.”

It does not affect all towns equally, noted Rep. Randy Hotham, R-Dixfield. It would likely help big towns, but leave small towns in the dust. Hotham would not say if he is for or against the bill, but is open to discussion.

“It doesn’t do anything for rural Maine,” he said.

Perry agreed that the higher-population areas would benefit more, although other taxation bills on the table would benefit the small towns.

“Not everything works for everyone all the time,” he said.

Most of the bill’s proponents called for amendments. Several wanted the freeze to apply to businesses. Others wanted a blanket valuation before the freeze “to level the playing field.”

Gerry Mylroie, a former director of planning development in Wells, submitted written testimony supporting the bill – but only with a few revisions. He said he wanted the bill worded in a way that would not impact new homeowners, apply to businesses, have property be revalued when the land use changes.

“The more you start thinking about this the worse it gets,” Sen. Richard Nass, R-Acton, said.

In Hotham’s district, which includes Dixfield, Canton and Peru, the level the bill would affect taxpayers varies drastically from one town to the next, he said.

Cyr said the best “true tax relief” he has seen the state government take on is the school consolidation plan. That, he said, represents actual savings instead of a shift in costs.

There’s only one true solution to tax relief, Cyr said.

“Everybody stop spending as much as they’re spending,” he said.