PORTLAND (AP) – Lewiston’s city administrator joined developers from around the state Thursday as they voiced support for a plan that would allow local sales taxes to pay for projects such as convention centers.

Gov. John Baldacci was expected to back legislation allowing counties to raise the meals and lodging tax to help pay for convention centers. But a spokesman said Thursday the governor will not include a local option proposal in the tax overhaul package, even though he has not abandoned his support for the idea.

Multimillion-dollar projects that stand to benefit from such taxes are in the works in Lewiston, Bangor, Portland and Aroostook County.

Lewiston City Administrator Jim Bennett outlined plans to build a $40 million Bates Mill Convention Center in the historic but vacant Bates Mill No. 5. At 300,000 square feet, Bennett said the site is the state’s largest unoccupied building under a single roof.

The most ambitious development, the $250 million Lincoln Center Project in Portland, includes a 10,000-seat arena, a 141,000-square-foot convention center, a 250-room hotel, a 1,700-car parking garage and a 17-story office tower.

Other projects in the works include a $70 million civic center in Bangor and a $15 million trail and resort system in Aroostook County.

Depending on how Lewiston’s $40 million project is configured, Bennett said it would create between 756 and 1,484 direct, indirect and spinoff jobs in the Twin Cities. He estimated it would generate $30 million to $58.8 million in economic activity.

Developer Joseph Boulos, who displayed artist renderings of Portland project, said Baldacci had given his unequivocal support and was planning to introduce enabling legislation that would allow the development to go forward.

“I would hope that he wouldn’t go back on his word,” the developer said in a telephone interview that followed a news conference in which he praised Baldacci’s “courage, foresight and leadership.”

In Augusta, Baldacci spokesman Lynn Kippax said the announcement by Boulos and others caught the administration by surprise and that the governor indicated to the Legislature’s Taxation Committee on Wednesday that a local option component would not be part of the upcoming tax package.

“The governor is not going back on his word,” Kippax said. “The governor has always supported a local option proposal, but what has to happen is that any bill has to go through the Legislature.”

The downtown projects, coupled with plans for a new civic center in Bangor and a 100-mile snowmobile trail system in Aroostook County, represent a $375 million investment in Maine’s tourism infrastructure that would attract more visitors, create jobs and promote economic growth, backers said.

The presentation Thursday was made at the Portland Regional Chamber, whose board voted unanimously to support legislation that could increase the meals and lodging tax from the current 7 percent to as much as 9 percent in counties in which the hike wins voter approval.

“It’s a great opportunity for Maine to help its tourist industry, which has been losing market share,” said Godfrey Wood, the chamber’s CEO.

Boulos set no deadline but indicated that it was important that the Legislature act swiftly. “It’s a one shot. We’ve got to do it,” he said, noting that commitments associated with the project would run out.

Wood said some local hotel managers have expressed concern about a higher lodging tax, but the chamber felt that a 9 percent rate would only put the area in line with the national average.

Boulos said hotels and restaurants would share in the increase in visitors. “It makes for a bigger pie, and everyone benefits,” he said.

Brian Petrovek, president of the Portland Pirates, told reporters that the hockey team was looking forward to the club seats, suites and other amenities that the new arena would provide.

Cumberland County Civic Center trustees released Thursday their request for proposals to design and build the new arena. No one has said what would happen to the existing building when the new one opens.