AUGUSTA – Poland Spring officials were relieved Monday to learn a petition drive to tax bottled water had failed after Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap ruled that more than 7,100 of the petition’s 56,287 signatures were invalid.
Poland Spring Water Co. representative Tom Brennan said Monday that Poland Spring officials still need to “feel out the business climate in Maine” to be certain the tax will not “pop up again” as a proposal in the state. However, he added, “We’re going to get through this. We’re going to build a plant in Kingfield.”
But James Wilfong of Stow said Monday that he and other tax supporters will continue to push for water-extraction regulation. Wilfong is a chief proponent of the proposed tax called “An Act to Preserve Maine’s Drinking Water Supply.”
This fall, Brennan said Poland Spring would not commit significant funds to building a bottling plant on a proposed site in Kingfield while a tax on bottled water was being seriously considered. He also predicted Poland Spring might move out of Maine altogether if the petitioners’ proposed statewide tax of 3 cents per 20 ounces of water was enacted.
After learning of Dunlap’s decision, Brennan said Poland Spring plant workers would be overjoyed that the petition drive had failed.
“There’s just a collective sigh of relief going on. I imagine some happy people on the bottling plant floor this afternoon,” he said. “For a year, they had the stress of wondering what the future holds with respect to their jobs. That’s just not fair.”
News of Dunlap’s decision came in a Monday morning press release, in which the secretary of state explained that, “After a careful evaluation of all petitions and signatures, the requirement for placing this initiative on next year’s General Election ballot has not been met.” After discounting the invalid signatures, state officials found the petition to be about 1,420 signatures short of the required 50,519.
“I wouldn’t be human if I wasn’t disappointed,” Wilfong said. He said his group had not decided what action to take next, but, “We have a few options in mind.” He said those include discussing the issue with the Legislature and attempting to come to a compromise. “We have somewhat of a moral obligation to follow this through,” he said.
Brennan said the possibility Wilfong’s group will succeed in enacting a tax continues to concern Poland Spring officials. He said company representatives plan to meet with members of Maine’s Legislature “to get a sense for, Is there really support for this kind of thing out there?'”
“I’ve never felt Maine people wanted a new tax or more bureaucracy,” he said, but “many people signed the petitions.”
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