LePage Letter Ignores, Insults Town Officials

Towns Have Supported a Fair Share Budget Solution

In his letter today to municipal officials acknowledging their nearly universal opposition to his proposed budget, Governor LePage claimed that “it is time for everyone to set complaints aside and offer solutions.” This statement ignores the fact that town resolutions passed by municipalities and public statements made by municipal officials have been offering fair and concrete alternatives. Nearly all of them have called for a more equitable budget solution based on fair taxation.

“I’m proud to put a pin in the map declaring Hallowell to be a fair tax town and I’m glad that towns and cities across the state are joining us in this effort,” said Hallowell Mayor Charlotte Warren as she helped launch the Fair Tax Towns effort to organize municipal opposition to the budget proposal in the State House Hall of Flags in February.

“In the months since the launch of the town resolution campaign, more than 70 town representative bodies have passed resolutions condemning Governor LePage’s budget proposal and demanding a fairer approach,” said Maine People’s Alliance communications director Mike Tipping. “More than 40% of Maine people now live in a town that has passed a fair share resolution and more are passing each week. A majority of the entire state’s population will soon live in a fair tax town.”

Details of the kind of solution LePage doesn’t want to discuss are available at www.fairsharemaine.org/solution. The budget gap could be closed simply by rolling back LePage’s tax cuts that mainly benefited the wealthy and taking other common-sense steps to make Maine’s tax system more fair and make sure wealthy individuals and corporations pay their fair share. LePage’s plan would instead lead to increased property taxes and service cuts for the poor and middle class.