Gov. Janet Mills (D) signed into law a bill last week repealing limitations on municipal property tax collection that have been in place for nearly twenty years.
Brought forward by Sen. Teresa Pierce (D-Cumberland), LD 2102 sought to roll back statutes that have been in place since 2005 and were designed to curb government spending and reduce Mainers’ tax burden.
The now-repealed law — referred to as LD 1 — was originally implemented in January 2005 after “countless hours” of consideration by the Legislature’s Joint Select Committee on Property Tax Reform” and was ultimately passed “by wide margins in both houses,” according to a 2006 report on the law.
“LD 1 limits growth of each municipality’s property tax levy to the growth rate of Maine’s average personal income (adjusted for inflation) plus the municipality’s property growth factor,” the report explains. “The property growth factor is different for each town; it is a measure of the new development occurring within the municipality’s borders.”
Click Here to Read the Full 2006 Report on LD 1
Sen. Pierce suggested in her testimony introducing LD 2102 that the municipal property tax levy cap established by LD 1 “has served its purpose.”
“I’m sure, at the time of putting this law to be into place nearly 20 years ago, this cap seemed necessary,” Pierce testified. “However, this statute has proven outdated and confusing for towns and their residents.”
In February, Republican lawmakers held a press conference speaking out against LD 2102, suggesting that it would “limit the voices of the voters” and would result in lawmakers breaking a promise they had made to their constituents.
“Local officials have a responsibility to budget within the limits given to them, and if they can’t do so, they owe clear explanation to the voters about why they should vote to override that limit,” said Rep. Amy Bradstreet Arata (R-New Gloucester). “Voters should have the right to force the municipality to honor the tax levy limit.”
During this press briefing, lawmakers also pointed out at that back in 2005, the implementation of this limit was supported by current Senate President and then representative Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook) and Sen. Peggy Rotundo (D-Androscoggin), as well as current governor and then representative Janet Mills (D).
Members of the Legislature’s State and Local Government Committee were split along partisan lines over whether or not to recommend this bill’s passage, with all Democrats supporting the majority Ought to Pass As Amended report and all Republicans backing the Ought to Not Pass recommendation.
Mid-March, the Senate narrowly voted to advance LD 2102, surpassing the minimum threshold by just one vote. Three Democrats — Sen. Craig Hickman (D-Kennebec), Sen. Peggy Rotundo (D-Androscoggin), and Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot) — joined the Republicans in opposition to this bill.
Partisan divisions remained stark in the House, but there was somewhat more crossover than was seen in the Senate. Nonetheless, the bill just narrowly received enough support to move forward.
Two Republicans — Rep. Mark John Blier (R-Buxton) and Rep. Kenneth Ralph Davis Jr. (R-East Machias) — and Independent Rep. Walter N. Riseman of Harrison joined the Democrats in support of the repeal.
On the other hand, five Democrats — including Rep. Sally Jeane Cluchey (D-Bowdoinham), Rep. Jessica L. Fay (D-Raymond), Rep. Anne-Marie Mastraccio (D-Sanford), Rep. Stephen W. Moriarty (D-Cumberland), and Rep. Sophia B. Warren (D-Scarborough) — and Independent Rep. William D. Pluecker of Warren voted with the Republicans in opposition.
[RELATED: Lawmakers Vote to Repeal 2005 Limits on Municipal Property Tax Collection]
A recent study from personal finance website WalletHub revealed that Mainers bear the highest property tax burden in the nation, contributing an estimated 4.86 percent of their personal income to these taxes.
For comparison, residents of Alabama — the state found to have the lowest property tax burden — pay just 1.33 percent of their personal income in property taxes.
[RELATED: Mainers Bear Nation’s Highest Property Tax Burden, 4th Highest Tax Burden Overall: WalletHub Study]
Because the emergency preamble originally included in the bill was removed before final passage, LD 2102 will go into effect ninety days after the Legislature adjourns for the session.
The party that cares about people is the one that wants to regulate and tax Maine into a S-hole. Just keep voting Dem morons and pay out the ass to live in Maine.
Sadly Maine people just don’t get it!!! Rememebr though all the out of staters have moved in bringing their idiocy instead of embracing Maine they are working on ruining it like their POS states, MA, CT, NY, NJ.
Teresa Pierce (D-Cumberland) “However, this statute has proven outdated and confusing for towns and their residents.” As a tax payer I can say without doubt that I am not confused and I find it insulting for you to insinuate it. Cumberland please come to your senses and take out this trash next election.
There was no insinuation, she came right out and said the citizens and local government in Maine are too dumb to deserve tax regulation.
Teresa Pierce is also responsible for the woke nonsense taking place in Falmouth schools if I’m not mistaken. This woman is dangerous and needs to be voted out yesterday.
Way to go Dems.
Drive more people out of state then whine that young people don’t stay while you kill business, spend uncontrollably, regulate us to the point of oppression and are still too dumb to stop.
axylos
Keep blaming “away”, cause that s helping…
We’ll see how this works out . My wife and I are retired our income has limits . But town of Standish limits on property taxes doesn’t seem to have any . Another increase of 800.$ just this year and no signs of slowing . I think property values should only increase after the sale of property. I’m not making any more money but the town must be. The property has been in our family for generations I’m not sure as it will continue to be
…yes, we can’t have any imedements to government spending now, can we, Jackboot Janet!
What did anyone expect ? The democRAT’s tax and spend policies work great as long as there are hard working people to tax to death. Time to get out of this horrible leftist cesspool and take my tax dollars with me. I’m sure the Chinese will buy my large farmhouse and accompanying acreage.
Well, that opened the flood gates. A western Maine town has proposed to increase the municipal budget by 30%
Mainers who voted these tax and spend special interest zealots into office are getting what they deserve. Unfortunately many of us who didn’t are also going to pay a heavy price.
I am a Mainer with a few generations in the grave. As much as I have enjoyed all that our State has offered it’s getting to be time to entertain the thought of moving away. This is no longer the Maine that I grew up in and raised our children. People are no longer voting on issues but vote on whatever emotions the Democrat party and the media stir into pseudo importance.
This is just par for the course here in Maine. They are going to tax you till you scream and then tax you some more. The trend to becoming a third world shit hole continues. Boy, Mills is butt ugly.inside and out.
This was a sop enacted to immunize the state against the virulent Taxpayer Bill of Rights” citizens initiative that was making serious headway in the populace. The “establishment,” including the Maine Chamber and the MMA, cooked up a harmless set of offerings to overcome the threat of real property tax limitations.
Now they can’t even abide the sop.
It’s important to be able to raise taxes to pay for all the migrants.
Governor Mills signing LD 2102 is exactly why we need to elect Republicans to the House and Senate.
The only way to stop this is with a majority in the Legislature.
Let’s elect some common sense people to the Legislature!
I shared this on facebook and it was pulled saying I broke cyber security rules. Saying it looked like I was trying to gather sensitive information from other!