Former Gov. Paul LePage, who is looking to serve another term, wants to eliminate the Maine State personal income tax, the fairest form of taxation. His reason is that local control keeps government spending down.

As governor, he changed the Maine State personal income tax code, and in doing so, reduced income tax allocations to municipalities. Many towns and cities had to raise local property taxes to balance budgets.

That policy caused some, especially in coastal, areas where property taxes skyrocketed, to have to move because they couldn’t afford the increase in their property taxes.

Landlords had to raise rents because of the rising property taxes on their rental properties. Many renters are people with lower incomes who can’t afford to buy a house.

Sales tax in 2013 rose from 5 to 5.5 percent, which has a greater impact on people with lower incomes.

Another increased sales tax was on a meal in a restaurant, now at 8 percent, in order to bring in more tax dollars from out-of-state tourists who come here in droves for about three months in summer. The rest of us who stay here all winter, now pay an extra tax all year long to eat out. This policy affects restaurants, already struggling to operate in the black.

If the Maine income tax is eliminated, as LePage would like, sales and property taxes will most likely rise, making living expenses greater for low and middle-income folks.

Betsy Hanscom
Cape Elizabeth

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