Gov. Paul LePage says Maine must pay the bills, especially to hospitals. Last year, he said nothing about Maine paying the bill owed to the Maine Public Employees Retirement System — a bill more than 35 years in the making. Instead, Maine defaulted on the payment of the MePERS bill.

LePage actually demanded that the people required to pay into MePERS pay the bill. Yes, he taxed the people in MePERS. A tax is when government demands money from the people. Gov. LePage did not pay the bill owed to MePERS; he defaulted and taxed.

LePage has not paid the bill for 55 percent of the cost of education in the state, as enacted into law by Maine people. His plan is to shift education costs back to local cities and towns, which will increase local property taxes. That will become a tax increase for homeowners.

Gov. LePage’s tax cuts of 2012 were made with full knowledge that there was no money to pay for them, resulting in a financial hole in the 2013 budget.

He is playing a nasty, cost-shifting game with the people. He cuts state income taxes/programs and then shifts costs to locals and causes a property tax increase. Under his plan, I will see an estimated $90 decrease in state taxes and a possible $200-300 property tax increase. Homeowners will lose money.

People should beware of state tax cuts dressed up in cost shifting/hidden taxes. They might see less money in their pockets.

Crystal Ward, Lewiston