AUGUSTA – Gov. John Baldacci used his morning address at the annual housing conference Tuesday to weigh in against Question 1, a proposed property tax cap. Baldacci said it would exacerbate sprawl and he promised to deliver his own plan this winter.

“This proposal goes too far and is too extreme,” Baldacci told the Augusta Civic Center crowd, later calling property tax reform his “first item” of business when the Legislature reconvenes.

Martha Freeman, director of the State Planning Office, has been working up an administration proposal, he said. “We’re going to present that to the Legislature in December; that was my commitment.”

Baldacci added: “We’re not leaving Augusta until we’re finished.”

Passing the tax cap on the Nov. 2 ballot would lead to a reduction in big-city services, he said, which will encourage people to build in the country.

That would increase local costs like maintaining roads and utilities.

He added that the focus ought to be developing affordable housing in the second, third and fourth floors of downtown buildings.