46 days ago
BIDDEFORD (NEWS CENTER) -- The people pushing the latest taxpayer bill of rights are launching a new feature on their W ebsite, one that lets people look at how much their property taxes have risen over the last nine years and how much lower those taxes would have been had TABOR been in effect. The Maine Heritage Policy Center says the site uses data from Maine Revenue Services and allows taxpayers to compare their property taxes to those in other towns. The chief economist for the Maine Heritage Policy Center, Scott Moody, says, "One important use of the property tax calculator is to shed light on the vast differences in the growth of property taxes between towns. For example, between FY 2000 and FY 2009, property tax collections in Kennebunk grew 102 percent, while property tax collections in Waterville grew just 19 percent. This disparity in property taxes begs the question, What's different?"
But the people opposed to TABOR say those skyrocketing figures don't take into account what new legislation will do in providing property tax relief.
Crystal Canney, spokesperson for Citizens United for Maine's Future, says, "This is just another deceptive tool brought to you by the Maine Heritage Policy Center. It does not compare numbers before LD1 and after LD1. To get a complete picture, you really need to do that."
The property tax calculator also lists changes in population but does not include extenuating circumstances, like the loss of major taxpaying businesses.
Check the links to look at the property tax calculator, and find out more about both sides of the issue.
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