Maine communities are facing a half-billion dollar tax shift under the proposed budget of Gov. Paul LePage. We’re in a situation where our schools and municipalities are looking at drastic cuts and our local property taxpayers are faced with substantial tax hikes.

We in the Legislature are now grappling with how we might lessen the impact of this budget. We should also take this opportunity to take a bigger-picture examination of our tax system, how we can make it fairer and more consistent and how we can avoid our current predicament in the future.

The governor’s budget would hurt our middle class, our poor, our elderly, our small businesses and our economy. The city of Lewiston would be forced into the position of having to cut important services — education, public safety and public works — or raise property taxes to fill the budget gap.

Most likely, we would have to do both under the governor’s budget.

This tax shift to our communities includes the suspension of the longstanding revenue-sharing system between the state and the municipalities. This comes at a time when direct state support to local governments is already at decades-long lows. The tax shift also includes cuts to programs that provide critical property tax relief to homeowners.

The governor is also cutting $40 million in education funding, rolling the costs of teacher retirement, a cost that has long been the responsibility of the state, onto cities and towns.

To better understand how this budget will affect Mainers, I will use Lewiston and Livermore Falls as examples.

A Lewiston resident who owns a home valued at $100,000 is looking at a $334 increase in their property taxes. Combined with the loss of the homestead exemption for homeowners under 65, the total increase would be $553.

The same home in Livermore Falls would see a $366 increase and with the loss of the homestead exemption, a total increase of $574.

This budget doesn’t just affect homeowners though. With the loss of the circuit breaker rent refund program, renters in Lewiston are facing an average loss of $408, while renters in Livermore Falls are facing an average loss of $377.

This budget hurts Maine’s business community in a very real way. The governor’s proposal repeals the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement Program and restricts eligibility of the Business Equipment Tax Exemption Program to manufacturing firms.

The governor has failed to make the tough decisions needed to get to a budget that reflects our values. Instead, he is forcing those difficult choices on to municipal officials.

The public has spoken out against these budget proposals. In recent public hearings at the State House, lawmakers heard from property taxpayers, business leaders, municipal officials, educators, parents and other concerned Mainers.

Their opposition tells us that we need a tax system that is fairer.

The governor’s budget presents an opportunity for us to take an honest look at our commitment to real change. We need to understand the taxes we pay, who pays them and how they are paid.

The governor’s budget highlights the regressive nature of property taxes. They hit middle-class Mainers particularly hard as their wealth is concentrated in their homes — not in investments that are taxed at lower rates, if at all.

We need to work toward a budget where everyone pays their fair share.

The Legislature is now considering ideas that move toward budgets and a tax system that better reflects the ability to pay and reduces the regressive impact of the property tax.

These include a “Buffett Rule” that would equalize effective tax rate paid among Mainers at all income levels, an increase in the lodging tax to help export some of our tax burden to non-resident vacationers, and a temporary increase on the sales tax — a tool utilized to help bring the state out of the 1991 budget crisis.

The governor has helped to shed some light on the issue of how we pay for government. Nobody loves taxes, but most understand their necessity. Now we must make the tough decisions on alternatives that protect vital services and reduce the impact on Maine residents.

Nate Libby represents part of Lewiston in the Maine House of Representatives, where he serves on the Taxation Committee, and is a member of the Lewiston City Council.