AUBURN – The tax reform movement continued to build Tuesday, with a growing list of volunteers, a Web site and financial donations.
But it still doesn’t have an organizing committee.
“That was why we called the meeting Monday in the first place,” said organizer Deana Chapman. “But it just didn’t happen.”
Chapman said the group probably won’t be able to form a core committee before next Monday’s City Council meeting. That’s OK, for the time being, she said.
“What happened Monday night had to happen, I think,” she said. “And what’s going to happen next Monday has to happen, too. And then, when the dust settles, we can go back to the drawing board.”
About 300 Auburn taxpayers crammed the block surrounding American Legion Post 153 on South Main Street on Monday night to join the tax reform effort. The meeting was called in response to a citywide property revaluation released last week that threatens to double or triple property taxes for many homeowners.
Seeking suitable space
The group agreed to continue the discussion next week at the City Council meeting. Mayor Normand Guay said the city was still looking for a suitable meeting space.
“We want to have room for as many as possible, but we also want to be sure it’s televised,” Guay said. City Council meetings in Auburn Hall are broadcast every Monday on Great Falls TV.
“Everybody has the right to be heard, and we want to be sure they are,” Guay said.
Meanwhile, the tax reform group has established a Web site, www.reformauburn.org. The members continued to collect signatures on petitions demanding that the revaluation be withdrawn and to pick up new volunteers.
Between 15 and 20 people have asked to be on the core committee, and some have even made donations to the effort, Chapman said.
Small business group
Another group of small business owners and landlords is banding together to push for property tax reform. Ron Potvin, a 2004 candidate for the Maine House of Representatives, said his group is more nuanced and has better information than the group that met Monday.
“We’re a little more level-headed and we understand how the city works,” he said.
His group is calling for an immediate freeze on city hiring and budgets and no increase in property tax revenues. He also wants the city to adopt new property values over the next three years and form a citizens group to review city budgets.
His group is set to meet Thursday night at Clover Manor on Minot Avenue, but Potvin said he doesn’t want to open it up to the public.
“I’m kind of afraid of what happened Monday night,” he said. “We don’t want a crowd like that to show up and overrun the nursing home.”
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