I must respond to Lu Bauer’s column of last week stating that my facts were fantasy and inconsistent when it comes to taxes and tax reform. I would suggest to Lu that she become more informed about taxes and why Maine is failing to produce a better economy.
She calls my statement that there could be a 300 percent increase in one’s property assessment as fantasy while in the very same edition reporter Peggy Roberts wrote a story about the valuation of properties in Raymond where one citizen could have a 400 percent increase in property value and face an increase of thousands of dollars in property taxes. Please remember the same is also happening in Auburn with exactly the same results. So much for fantasy!
Then Lu states that the Press Herald reported that Cumberland Country has the lowest tax rates or only increased tax rates by small amounts. Think that is the end of the story? Tax rates are meaningless unless coupled with property valuations, especially since those have increased tremendously in the past few years. One could have lower taxes with a mill rate of $25 compared to someone with a property of high value and a mill rate of $17. Of course, what matters to everyone is the actual amount of property taxes they owe.
Lu also stated that I omitted the Homestead Exemption and the Property Tax and Rent Refund, which I will lump together as LD1. First was the lack of space in my column, but, more importantly, LD1 is nothing more than voodoo legislation designed to trick uninformed citizens that the governor and Democrats are giving real tax relief. It’s interesting that in a recent poll at a tax reform conference in Windham nearly 100 percent of the citizens polled at the conference reported little or no tax relief from LD1. Now how can that be?
First and foremost LD1 is not tax relief. What LD1 has accomplished is a tax shift. In other words, it’s like robbing Peter to pay Paul. All the Maine Legislature has done is shift the cost of the so-called tax relief to us because half of the cost of the Homestead Exemption is borne by the municipalities themselves so we pay for our own tax relief. Even the increased funding for local education was touted as tax relief and yet many communities saw an increase in their property taxes.
Property taxes are unfair in Maine as our tax system is determined by the Maine Constitution which was written into law in 1820 when Maine was an agrarian society. It is time for all tax laws in Maine to be rewritten to include a dedicated fund for education. I believe education is vital not only for our children but for our country as well. However, government and education reform is necessary due to the large amount of duplication of services and functions. Since the United States is now falling in education compared with many other nations, it is time for accountability of teachers and administrators with such things as merit pay and a well managed school voucher program.
As far as the stock market and Great Depression go, it had far more to do with the unequal distribution of wealth that caused an unstable economy coupled with excessive speculation keeping stocks artificially high. And the problems went beyond the United States. One must wonder if history is repeating itself today with the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer.
“Whenever a liberal begins a statement with ‘I don’t know which is more frightening,’ you know the answer is going to be pretty clear.” Ann Coulter.
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