Property taxpayers are being promised relief through a number of proposals that will come before the Legislature when it starts work in January, but it remains to be seen whether there’s the necessary bipartisan support to get anything through.

With the Senate so closely divided – 18 Democrats to 17 Republicans – whatever’s going to happen will have to be supported there. Senate President Beth Edmonds said she wants all ideas on the table, and from a sampling of what being proposed in draft form, she’s about to get her wish.

In addition to Gov. John Baldacci’s proposal to freeze property values for full-time Maine residents, allowing assessments to go up by the rate of inflation and not market value, there are proposals to bring back at least part of the language in the defeated Taxpayer Bills of Rights. There’s also a so-called TABOR alternative that Edmonds herself is sponsoring.

In what most view as a remarkable collaboration, Republican Sen. Richard Nass of York County and Democratic Sen. Ethan Strimling of Cumberland County are working on a tax-reform proposal to rebalance the state’s tax code and put some constitutional caps on spending. The current tax system is seen as overly reliant on the property tax and has a low-income threshold for the top income-tax rate. Both men are serving on the Tax Committee this session.

Nass said the plan includes things both Republicans and Democrats traditionally avoid, and the two senators are trying out ideas on their fellow party members.

“We’ve been chatting since this summer to see if there’s some common ground,” said Strimling, who said it was too early to talk about details. “The only way were going to get tax reform is if it’s bipartisan. Both sides have got to participate if we’re going to accomplish anything on this.”

Property tax attack

Republican Sen. Dana Dow of Lincoln and Knox counties has proposed what he’s calling a “four-pronged attack on property taxes.” It includes a 1 percent increase in the sales tax – from 5 to 6 percent.

“Every nickel is to go to property-tax relief,” Dow said, through paying the full cost of the homestead exemption and by sending more state money to pay for county costs.

As part of a tax reform package – LD1 – passed by legislators last session, the homestead exemption, or amount that permanent Maine residents can deduct on their homes before taxation. was doubled to $13,000, but the state only pays for half of the cost. The other half, about $36 million, is still being borne by local taxpayers in some form.

The cost of county government, and county jails in particular, is another burden that could be relieved, said Dow, who said 9.5 percent of his own property-tax bill, for example, goes to the county.

He also would like to see state revenue sharing increased to smaller towns that aren’t service centers, which is where the last increase went.

“Little towns, which is all of Lincoln County, they didn’t get anything,” he said.

And, he would support phasing in property-tax increases over three years on individual properties after a revaluation, instead of hitting a homeowner with a huge spike in one year. Dow also would support expanding what gets taxed under the sales tax, most likely to amusement purchases like ski lift or movie tickets, and would use the money generated to fill holes in the upcoming budget.

Ultimately he would like to see the income tax reduced over the next 10 years, from the current top rate of 8.5 percent to 6.5 percent. “That would be a pure tax cut,” he said, with the money made up “from a stimulated economy.”

TABOR alternative

Edmonds is sponsoring a bill worked out by the Maine Municipal Association and the Maine Education Association to assure taxpayers that work is being done to bring down taxes in the state.

The proposal was endorsed by the Maine State Chamber of Commerce board of directors as an alternative to the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, which many other business groups supported in the Nov. 7 election. That proposal was defeated, 54-46 percent.

Under the plan, it would be harder for cities, towns and school districts to override the spending caps set under LD1. If they are receiving new school aid from the state and want to override a spending cap, it would require either a two-thirds vote of the local ruling body or a vote of the people on the ballot.

The proposal also calls for putting into statute a cap on how much the state can bond, formalizing the so-called “5 percent rule,” which says that the annual cost of paying back bonds can’t exceed 5 percent of state revenues.

There also would be a push to encourage local planning to cut down on the number of school districts in the state to save money. The proposal borrows an idea from a report done by the Maine Children’s Alliance on how to improve classroom instruction and cut down on administrative overhead.

The report suggests school districts across the state voluntarily come together into 26 school planning alliances along the same geographic lines of the state’s existing 26 vocational districts. They would then propose ways to save on everything from regional transportation systems to shared collective bargaining.

While Edmonds is sponsoring the bill, “I’m not wedded to this,” she said. “I just want to get the discussion going.”