By Rep. David Haggan

Out-of-control spending by the Biden Administration. Mainers living paycheck to paycheck because of the rapid inflation that spending caused. An insatiable hunger of cities and towns to raise taxes as much as they can. And the decades-long protection from doing so now gone. It all adds up to the plot of a bad Deadwood episode, doesn’t it?

Well, the fact is it’s real and happening right now in a town near you. And the alarming increases we’ve been seeing in property taxes across Maine are an existential threat to those who must pay them – Maine’s homeowners.

Hello, this is Representative David Haggan of Hampden. I thank you for joining me for this week’s Republican Radio Address.

Rising property taxes are of great concern, particularly when State government is now funding 55 percent of school budgets and sharing more revenue with towns than ever before. It was a promise made 20 years ago – and now that we’ve reached that pinnacle, it seems towns and cities simply took the money and ran.

Portland residents saw a six percent increase while those in Lewiston and Gorham saw a nine percent jump. Westbrook residents face a 13 percent rise in their property taxes and some Maine residents are seeing increases as high as 60 percent. This is not supposed to be happening. When Gov. John Baldacci was in office, state and local budgets were in tough financial shape and Maine had just come off Question 1 in the 2004 election that would have limited property tax assessments to one percent of assessed value. In response, one of the promises he made to taxpayers in late 2004 was to lessen the burden of property taxes for homeowners and businesses alike.

In December of that year, he presented LD 1 to the Maine Legislature. Subsequently, the Legislature formed the Joint Select Committee on Property Tax Reform to consider the wide-ranging 72-page bill that would change many of the ways tax revenue is raised and spent in both state and local jurisdictions.

Upon the passage of the bill in January 2005, the Legislature established the property tax limitation that capped how much local jurisdictions could raise your property taxes to the rate of average wage growth. It also limited budget increases by the same amount at the state, county and local level.

That same law also increased the Homestead Exemption, established what we call the budget stabilization fund, or “rainy day” fund, and set Maine on a path to fund 55 percent of local school budgets. All of this was enacted as a promise to reduce the local property tax burden.

However, the Democrat-led Legislature broke that promise earlier this year and passed LD 2102 to repeal the part limiting tax increases and spending to average wage growth. In doing so, municipal budgets now have no limitations in place to protect Maine homeowners.

This is clearly taking us in the wrong direction and it’s likely to get worse. We already have the fourth highest tax burden in the country and rank first in the nation when it comes to property taxes. Yes, you heard that right – first in the nation. We are already seeing the effects of massive revaluations across the state; and my concern is some residents will now be taxed out of their own homes.

Republicans are making a new promise to Maine’s homeowners and have put forth several proposals to fulfill it.

First, we must put the property tax cap back in place. This cap has helped countless Mainers from reckless increases in local budgets in the two decades it has been in place. It forces municipalities to live within the means of their residents.

Second, we must reform the way revaluations are conducted. The way they’re done now stems from rules designed in an era of more stable home prices, not the frenzied housing market we’re experiencing now with rapid price spikes.

Third, we need to give seniors more protections to keep them in their homes. Democrats repealed the popular property tax stabilization program. We need to bring it back.

Finally, if we’re going to increase the homestead exemption, we need to reimburse municipalities 100 percent for it. Democrats also repealed the law that would have forced the state to do that.

Doing what we say we’re going to do – that’s our promise to you.

Again, this is Representative David Haggan of Hampden. Thank you for listening and have a great Labor Day weekend.

Representative David Haggan represents the District 36 towns of Hampden and Newburgh. He is a member of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee.