York Town News
York Board of Selectmen says no to TABOR
Loss of local control, wiggle-room for the state, cited as reasons
By Larry Favinger and Jennifer L. Saunders
YORK - Most of the members of the Board of Selectmen are against the Taxpayer Bill of Rights (TABOR) proposal, which will be on the state ballot by citizen petition this November.By a 3-1 vote Monday night, Oct. 2, the board recommended local voters oppose the bill. Selectmen Chairman David Marshall, Vice Chairman Dwight Bardwell and Len Dorrian voted to oppose TABOR, while Michael Estes voted against it. Selectman Torbert Macdonald Jr. was excused from the meeting.
"There are so many flaws," Dorrian said. "I must reluctantly say this isn't the way."
Dorrian said the formula used to establish spending limits on governments would, in York, stop capital construction entirely at a time when facilities are badly needed.
"That seems irrational," he said.
Dorrian said he agrees with the frustration of Maine taxpayers about the state's tax situation but added, "I just don't think this is the way to go about it. … I could not support TABOR. … It takes away local controls."
Bardwell, meanwhile, said he could support TABOR if the override process was a bit more liberal.
During a presentation to the board, Town Manager Rob Yandow said the cost of even putting an override ballot together could reach as much as $25,000 and there has to be a super majority vote of two-thirds of the people to even get an override on the ballot.
Bardwell said the process made it virtually impossible to override, adding, "To me, that's just wrong."
And, like Dorrian, Bardwell said he takes exception with a state statute controlling the finances of the town in a manner that would cut deeply into maintenance of town and school buildings and facilities because of the strict spending limits.
"I have real problems with taking away local control," he said. "I think, all around, it's a bad deal."
Estes, however, blasted the state Legislature for ignoring Mainers who are "crying that we need to do something about taxes" and said the citizen petition that brought TABOR to the ballot is a reflection of the failure of the Legislature to act.
All the Legislature does is "push it to the voters and then go out and oppose it," he said. "There's nothing in place to help people with their taxes."
While TABOR may not be the answer, Estes said, it would change the way things are being done in Augusta.
"It's not the ultimate thing, but it's a start," he said. "It's going to give taxpayers relief immediately."
Marshall said he agreed with Estes on the frustration of the taxpayers with the Legislature, but could not vote in support of TABOR.
"I couldn't have said it better myself," he said of Estes' claims regarding the Legislature but, he added, "The state can get around it."
Since TABOR is being forwarded as a state statute, the state has the option to opt out if it so desires, opening the door for the possibility that it would impact local governments but not the state.
"There's a lot we don't know about TABOR," Yandow said. "There's a lot to be done" to clarify aspects of the bill, he said, adding, "on the surface it sounds reasonable, but . . ."
The only state that has adopted TABOR is Colorado and that state did so as an amendment to its constitutional. Last year, Colorado voted to suspend TABOR for five years. Yandow said another 20 or so states have also studied the principles of the legislation, but only in Maine has it reached the ballot at this time. He said it would impact all schools, towns, cities, counties and, "maybe" the state.
TABOR regulates all increases in taxes and fees, no matter how small or large, with any proposed increase going to the voters for approval. For example, if the Recreation Department wanted to increase the fee for any of its programs - even by as little a one cent - that request would have to go to the voters for approval.
And, according to York School Department data, TABOR would have serious implications on the schools as well as the town.
Had TABOR been in effect between fiscal 2004 and fiscal 2005, for example, the result would have been a $575,000 cut to the voter-approved school budget.
That is because, Superintendent of Schools Dr. Henry Scipione explained, enrollment decreased by 1.71 percent during that time, while the rate of inflation was 3.39 percent. Under TABOR, schools must deduct enrollment changes directly from the rate of inflation. In York's case, that would have meant an increase of no more than 1.68 percent for the total budget, or a $575,000 reduction in what was actually approved by local voters. A rate of increase of 1.68 percent would not even cover such unavoidable costs as contracted salaries, insurance obligations, fuel prices and debt service on building loans.
Essentially, Scipione noted, TABOR equates a loss of 36 students to the funding for 12 teaching positions.
He said the bill doesn't mandate teacher cuts but because as much as 90 percent of a school budget is fixed costs, that salary line is the only one where significant cuts could be made. In recent budget years, he noted, TABOR would have resulted in more than $700,000 in reductions to school funding.
On the town side, the figures are equally bleak, according to information compiled by Yandow. In fiscal 2006, for example, TABOR would have forced the town to cut $534,396 with another $357,086 to be shaved in fiscal 2007 from the voter-approved budgets - unless a two-thirds majority called for an override referendum.
For more on TABOR's implications for York, see From the Manager's Desk, click here.
