BIDDEFORD — More than 100 people packed Wednesday’s public hearing at the Legislature’s Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee in Augusta, supporting a bill to maintain revenue sharing with Maine’s cities and towns at its current level.

While some opposed portions of LR 2721, the overwhelming majority spoke in favor of the bill, which would keep the current rate of revenue sharing at $60 million.

If the bill fails, the fund to be distributed to Maine communities would be reduced to $20 million, basically decimating the program.

Most of those testifying were officials from cities and towns from all over the state. They said reducing revenue sharing more would be devastating to their communities. The result of the reduction would require increasing property taxes and/or cuts to local services, they said.

Among those testifying in Augusta in support of the bill were several officials from Biddeford.

Reducing revenue sharing by $40 million would cost Biddeford around $1 million, said City Manager John Bubier.

The city would have to reduce staff and cut services, he said, because Biddeford taxpayers can’t afford a significant property tax increase.

“Our property taxes have reached a breaking point,” said Bubier.

Biddeford Mayor Alan Casavant, also a state representative, spoke about an 85-year-old woman living in Biddeford who must work in order to afford to pay her property taxes.

Biddeford Fire Chief Joseph Warren said the loss of additional revenue sharing to Biddeford would affect public safety. Reductions of firefighters and EMT personnel would delay response times to fires and ambulance calls.

“We’re talking about people’s lives here,” he said.

Biddeford Police Chief Roger Beaupre said his department would lose more than $400,000, which would result in a reduction of five personnel, a combination of officers and dispatchers. It would bring the police department back to pre-1991 staffing levels, he said.

State revenue sharing was implemented in 1972. Under the law, 5 percent of the revenue the state collects from income and sales tax is to be distributed among Maine communities.

In recent years, in an attempt to balance the state budget, the Legislature has diverted that money to the general fund.

In order to balance the current fiscal year 2014 state budget last year, the Legislature reduced state revenue sharing to $60 million, which is less than half the $138 million required by law, according to the Maine Municipal Association.

At that time, the Legislature also called for reducing revenue sharing by another $40 million for the 2015 fiscal year unless a task force could find other places to make those cuts.

The task force failed in that mission.

Senate President Justin Alfond, D-Portland, said if the proposed bill failed and state revenue sharing was reduced even further, it would break a promise made by the Legislature to Maine’s cities and towns.

Also, he said, it wouldn’t save money.

“Let’s be clear,” said Alfond. “We are not going to save money by cutting revenue sharing. This is a classic false choice. If we break our promise of revenue sharing, we will simply be shifting the costs to our towns; and our homeowners and business property owners will pay the price.”

Not all came out in support of the measure.

Maine’s Finance Commissioner Sawin Millett Jr. said a proposal to finance revenue sharing by using a large chunk of the state’s so-called rainy day fund would hurt Maine’s bond rating.

In addition, some business representatives opposed the bill.

Representatives for several paper manufacturers opposed a section of the bill that would restore the 12-year limit on the eligibility for reimbursement under the Business Equipment Tax Reimbursement program. This would provide revenue to be used to fund state revenue sharing.

The Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee will hold a work session on the bill today.

— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.