South Portland City Council members unanimously voted Monday in opposition to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights ballot question, known as TABOR II, which would modify the current state law on tax and expenditure limitations for state and local governments.
Councilors agreed that while the referendum question may sound ideal to taxpayers, digging deeper into the bill revealed more problems than solutions for Maine’s municipalities.
Many council members also said they were concerned over what they believe are TABOR’s shortcomings, including limitations on state and municipal budgets that could affect roads, emergency situations and future spending levels.
 “The biggest impact on Maine and most people is the highway. The city, this year, ended up paving some roads the state should be paving,” said Councilor James Hughes.  The city has taken care of state roads, including Broadway, because there was not enough money in the state budget to cover their upkeep.
Since 2005, state and local governments have used LD 1, a state law that limits the extent to which local property taxes may increase in any given year.  Under the law, the state has come in under mandated spending limits and South Portland has kept property taxes within the confines of LD 1, lowering Maine’s national ranking on tax burden, according to South Portland City Manager, James Gailey.
LD 1 also allows municipalities to roll over any surplus in the budget to the following year.  TABOR II does not allow for the rollover, creating “use it or lose it” initiatives and not allowing a buffer for emergency use for snow removal if a winter is especially bad or emergency road repairs, said Gailey.
TABOR II also requires statewide voter approval for most tax increases and expenditure increases above the growth limit, costing $800,000 to mail certain notices and financial information to every registered voter for each mandated referendum, according to the overview of TABOR II on the South Portland City Council’s Web site.
The bill uses the current 2010 fiscal year as a baseline for future growth in spending that will reflect the current depressed levels of revenue, said the same Web site.   
TABOR II is a statewide referendum question, which means even if South Portland votes it down, it could pass with the approval of other municipalities.
“We may in fact be victims,” said council member Linda Boudreau. “Talk with folks in the state, tell relatives. This is not going to be a good move for any municipality in Maine.”
Colorado is the only state that has passed TABOR and council member Tom Coward said Colorado has had to suspend parts of its government to keep from going bankrupt.
South Portland had a cap on spending in 2004, according to Boudreau, that was repealed the following year.
Visit the South Portland city Web site for more information on TABOR II at www.southportland.org.