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Tell us what you think!Send a letter to the editor about this or any other article in The Maine Campus.
Question 1
Do you want to allow a casino with table games and slot machines at a single site in Oxford County, subject to local approval, with part of the profits going to specific state, local and tribal programs?
More than 100,000 Maine residents signed a petition to allow this citizens’ initiative, which if approved, will allow a casino to open in Oxford County. Annual estimates from the Maine Secretary of State’s Office say the net annual slot income should be above $55 million and net table income just above $15.5 million. 46 percent of net slot revenue and 16 percent of net table revenue will go to the state — a total of an estimated $28.8 million annually.
The state will be required to allocate that money as follows: 25 percent for K-12 education, 4 percent for the University of Maine System scholarship fund, 3 percent for the Maine Community College system scholarships fund, 4 percent to the Penobscot Nation and the Passamaquoddy Tribe. Other revenues will go to local municipalities near the casino’s site and to gambling addiction services.
University of Maine economist Todd Gabe said his analysis of this proposal yielded 2,700 new jobs related to the casino, providing $80.7 million in income.
Question 2
Do you favor a $5 million bond issue to be awarded on a competitive basis to increase access to dental care in Maine, $3.5 million to be used for a community-based teaching dental clinic affiliated with or operated by a college of dental medicine to be matched by $3.5 million in other funds, and $1.5 million to be used to create or upgrade community-based health and dental care clinics across the State to increase their capacity as teaching and dental clinics?
An Oct. 27 article in The Kennebec Journal said there is one dentist for every 2,300 Maine citizens. All funding, according to the bond issue’s text, will be awarded on a competitive basis if approved. The University of New England in Biddeford has been planning for a dental school for some time and will apply for $3.5 million in funding, according to the paper. The other $1.5 million will go toward creating or improving community dental clinics. The total lifetime cost of the legislatively referred bond is estimated to be $6,237,500 by the Secretary of State’s office.
Question 3
Do you favor a $9.75 million bond issue to invest in land conservation and working waterfront preservation and to preserve state parks to be matched by $9.25 million in federal and other funds?
If approved, $9.25 million of this bond issue would go toward the Land for Maine’s Future Program under the State Planning Office, which works to preserve natural areas — such as waterfronts, forests and farms. $6.25 million, to be matched equally by other funds, will be allocated for the acquisition of new land for access to waterways, wildlife habitat, recreation and farmland preservation. $2.75 million will go to working farmland preservation and waterfront maintenance, which will also be equally matched by other funds. Another unmatched $500,000 would be allocated to Maine’s state park system. The total lifetime cost of this legislatively referred bond is estimated to be $12,163,125 by the Secretary of State’s office.
Total lifetime costs explained
State bond issues borrow revenue from property and sales taxes. Bonds worth the amount on the ballot are sold to private investors, who pay the balance 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 this 4.5 percent rate for that 10-year period.
Bangor Daily News