EDITORIAL:

TABOR critics burying their best argument

Copyright © 2006 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.

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Critics of the Taxpayer Bill of Rights ballot initiative tend to emphasize that the proposed spending cap will cause Maine cities, towns and school districts to cut their budgets.

However, taking on TABOR by appearing to defend the status quo is not the way to go.

Many disgruntled Mainers seem to have the notion that their taxes are so high because someone, somewhere ­ usually in state government ­ is throwing their money down a well.

A more effective critique addresses the manner in which TABOR clamps down on spending. It's a policy bludgeon that leaves governments less able to respond to opportunities and unexpected fiscal burdens. And TABOR's biggest effect is more likely to be felt on local rather than state programs.

TABOR would limit spending at all levels of government by tying increases to specific formulas.

Town spending would be tied to the inflation rate and population changes. Spending for most schools would be tied to inflation and school enrollment. To increase spending past these limits, an affected government entity would need to approve a spending hike by a two-thirds majority just to get the question before voters. After that, a simple majority would complete the override.

In other words, a determined minority would in many cases be able to keep the question from voters.

But if the TABOR initiative on the ballot passes this November, it would be a statutory provision, not the constitutional amendment that Colorado voters passed in 1992.

That means it would simply be another law. Since Maine's Constitution reserves broad authority to tax and spend for the Legislature, it's likely lawmakers would have latitude to create work-arounds or even modify TABOR's provisions outright.

Not so local communities and school districts, which would be faced with a strict interpretation of the law, and ­ it seems likely ­ motivated TABOR supporters ready to go court to enforce it.

It's true that Maine's multiplicity of municipalities and school districts, coupled with a fierce allegiance to local control, have created a system full of duplicative effort and inefficiency, particularly at the local level.

If implemented, TABOR's restrictions might finally convince a significant number of Maine municipalities to consolidate their service programs with their neighbors' to live within new budget realities.

But giving a motivated minority the power to wrap their government in a fiscal straitjacket seems an unnecessarily contentious and undemocratic way to get there.