FARMINGTON — The Board of Selectmen adopted a resolution Tuesday expressing “grave concern” about LD 974, which would reduce the amount of excise tax municipalities collect on vehicles less than six years old.
The citizen initiative, An Act to Decrease the Automobile Excise Tax and Promote Energy Efficiency, will come before voters in November and while it sounds good on the surface, there’s no free lunch, Town Manager Richard Davis told the board.
The town is facing an approximate $320,572 loss of revenue if voters enact the measure. The money is used to repair and maintain about 80 miles of local roads. Davis said it has taken four years to complete projects such as the Whittier Road, and the loss of $300,000 will put town road projects even further behind.
Taxpayers could face a property tax increase and more budget cuts to offset the lost excise tax revenue, he said.
The fairness of the bill also raised concerns because it reduces excise taxes “for some,” Davis said. There is no benefit for the majority of vehicle owners, who represent about 68 percent of excise taxpayers, because their vehicles are five years old or older, he told the board.
“People buying new cars get a break at the expense of those driving older cars,” he said.
Those buying hybrids, for example, would get an excise tax exemption while also paying less gasoline tax because they use less fuel, but at the same time those vehicles create the same amount of wear and tear on roads, he said.
The board’s resolution also notes that “the excise tax initiative is falsely presented as a ‘green’ initiative while at the same time seriously impairing the capacity of the towns and cities in Maine to construct and maintain road systems that appropriately protect Maine’s water quality.”
The resolution authorizes the town manager “to provide information to Farmington voters regarding the potential negative impacts of this initiated legislation” prior to the November vote.
With a sparse population and lower incomes, this state has to contend with winter roads and a lot of heavy truck traffic. The initiative would cause a shift to higher property taxes or the roads could become worse, he said.
The Maine Municipal Association is mounting a campaign of print and television advertisements to oppose it and is also recruiting volunteers to talk with voters about the bill, Chairman Stephan Bunker said.
Details on the initiative can be found on MMA’s Web site, www.memun.org
Selectman Dennis Pike said he would like to see benefits for everyone. “We’re only shifting from one side of the road to the other,” he said.
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