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Question 1:
Do you want to reject the new law that lowers Maine’s income tax and replaces that revenue by making changes to the sales tax?
A yes vote would veto L.D. 1495, a tax reform law passed by the Maine Legislature in June 2009. The law, which is on the books but suspended pending the outcome of the vote, will go into effect if enough no votes are amassed. It will reduce Maine’s income tax from a graduated system based on income to a 6.5 percent flat rate for all citizens. The 5 percent sales tax will be expanded to cover 100 new items — mostly services, such as car washing, car repair and laundry. Movie, concert and theater tickets, along with admission to amusement parks, will also be taxed. The meals and lodging tax will be raised from 6 percent to 7.5 percent.
Question 2:
Do you favor a $26,500,000 bond issue that will create jobs through investment in an off-shore wind energy demonstration site and related manufacturing to advance Maine’s energy independence from imported foreign oil, that will leverage $24,500,000 in federal and other funds and for energy improvements at campuses of the University of Maine System, Maine Community College System and Maine Maritime Academy in order to make facilities more efficient and less costly to operate?
According to the Portland Press Herald, a yes vote would allow the AEWC Advanced Structures and Composites Center, the University of Maine facility working with multiple federal grants on offshore wind technology, to employ 300 construction workers and create another 100 full-time jobs. $15.5 million of the bond money will be used to make the University of Maine campus, among all other state-run campuses, more energy efficient. A no vote will reject the bond issue in full. The lifetime cost of this bond is estimated to be $33,058,750 by the Maine Office of the Treasurer.
Question 3:
Do you favor a $47,800,000 bond issue to create jobs in Maine through improvements to highways, railroads and marine facilities, including port and harbor structures, and specifying the allocation of $4,000,000 of the transportation bond approved by voters in November 2009 to be used for capital rail purposes?
A yes vote on this bond will allocate $24.8 million for reconstruction and paving of state highways, $16 million for the improvement of state rails and the purchase of the former Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway in Aroostook and Penobscot counties, $6.5 million for the Ocean Gateway Deep Water Pier in Portland, $500,000 for small harbor improvements, $5 million for wind power and $5 million for improved dental health – including potential funding for a College of Dental Medicine at the University of New England, which has campuses in Biddeford and Portland. A no vote will reject the bond issue in full. The Office of the Treasurer estimated the lifetime cost of the bond at $59,630,500.
Question 4:
Do you favor a $23,750,000 bond issue to provide capital investment to stimulate economic development and job creation by making investments under the Communities for Maine’s Future Program and in historic properties; providing funding for research and development investments awarded through a competitive process; providing funds for disbursements to qualifying small businesses; and providing grants for food processing for fishing, agricultural, dairy and lumbering businesses within the State and redevelopment projects at the Brunswick Naval Air Station that will make the State eligible for over $39,000,000 in federal and other matching funds?
If voted yes, the largest piece of this bond issue will go toward redevelopment of buildings at the Brunswick Naval Air Station. $8 million will be used to rehabilitate buildings in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and fire codes and to build a higher education center. As the question says, these improvements will make the station eligible for $39,000,000 in federal funding. The Office of the Treasurer estimates a lifetime cost of $29,628,125.
Question 5:
Do you favor a $10,250,000 bond issue to improve water quality, support drinking water programs and the construction of wastewater treatment facilities and to assist farmers in the development of environmentally sound water sources that will leverage $33,250,000 in federal and other funds?
A large piece of this bond issue, $3.4 million, will be put toward a revolving loan fund to design or improve water supply mechanisms in municipalities. Eligible water districts will be able to apply for these loans. The yes side hopes to leverage $17 million in federal funds. The Office of the Treasurer estimates a lifetime cost of $12,786,875.
Lifetime Costs Explained
State bond issues borrow revenue from property taxes and sales taxes. Bonds worth the amount on the ballot are sold to private investors, who pay for the issues up front. The state typically pays back the money at a 4.5 percent yearly interest rate over 10 years, after which the bond stops running. The state estimates lifetime costs at that rate.
Bangor Daily News