I think the bill's sponsor should have a 15 year audit...This is goverment overeach like I have never seen...Next thing you know they are going to track down the dumpster divers who collect botles to survive and try to determine how much of their income should go to the state.. what a sorry bunch..

I am beginning to wonder where does this top as this is getting more and more big daddy watching over you and all about monies for the State. We inthe COunty elected John Martin, but it seems that he is not for the people for his own ego, i.e., not drilling off the coast yet cost of fuel has beenfluctuating all the time, now the price of bottling, where does it stop. Maybe, it is time that we look at our legislators that we put in office and put them tothe task of doing their job for the people and not always for the benefit of the State. Finally, here we go with the two State of Maine.

This is part of New World Order, if anyone missed their history lessons or forgot you can read it again anywhere. If you can't do that just pay attention to ads that want money for 3rd world nations where there is no schools, no medicines no clean water. N.A.F.T.A. to name one was about taking our jobs and sending them to 3rd world places or other places where companies can pay a dollar a day or some low amount. Read up on communist or socialist country, that is where we are going.

Not even the IRS goes back that far. This is insane. This can only be politically motivated. A fine example of corruption this, that can in all likelyhood be tagged back to distributors support for the repeal of tax on soda and beverages last fall. Is the BDN going along on this?

This "audit" will most likely cost more than the outstanding bottle deposits amount to. To me this is a ploy to line _somebody's_ pockets with more of the taxpayers money. An advertising or education campaign to remind consumers to return their bottles to the redemption facilities would be more to the point!

IT IS TIME TO REPLACE JOHN MARTIN, TIME FOR HIM TO GET A REAL JOB, THATS RIGHT HE DOES NOT NEED TO WORK THE LOBBIESTS KEEP HIM GOING.

I hopt the r3volution comes soon.

Being a former co owner of a redemption center I think an audit is long overdo, but the bottle companies aren't totally to blame. Yes they are making thousands off of us with the unclaimed deposits and unregistered labels. (if the label is unregistered, the company sells it, collects the deposit but you can't turn it in to get the deposit back because the center can not get paid for it because the company did not register the lable). Having delt with the state on this issue many times, bottom line is the state is not doing their job, and appears to have little or no desire to do so. Most of the time the answer we got about unredeemable bottles and cans was, don't take them, even after we told them where the product was being sold. The bottling companies are always raising their prices to deal with rising costs. If they weren't making money from the deposits why do they own that bottle or can forever? We decided to keep the cans and sell them as scrap alum, but Maine law doesn't allow that. Go to Augusta for a bottle redemption meeting and you will see who is really calling the shots in this game. Everytime you drink something with a deposit you are supporting the ones holding all the cards. And just for the record redemption centers havn't had a raise in over 15 years. Tried to get a 1/2 cent two years ago, was out lobbied by, you guessed it the bottling companies. They spent thousands to prevent us from getting 1/2 of a penny. I hear tap water is deposit free.

Unbeleivable, John Martin has been beating this dead horse for years, geez, get a life Mr. Martin and get off the Bottlers'. I don't want to pay any more for my soda and beer and this is what drives up costs...let the Bottlers make a couple extra bucks, maybe they can hire some college kids for summer help...Jobs, Jobs, Jobs, you nut case Martin.....If you really don't have any thing else to do go study Florida which has a comprehensive RECYCLING program for all containers and no stupid deposit laws......and does anyone ever go there for a vacation........dah........wake up and smell ..........something...all you stupid legislators..........repeal the law and reduce our costs of beverages and hire some kids for the summer......dumb, dumb, dumb...........man........don't even get me started on this.............

Aren't you people up in the County just a little embarrassed for saddling this State with the likes of john martin?

Ok, what about all of the millions of milk containers, canned vegetable containers, glass containers , cardboard packaging materials...can you say "frozen Pizzas"....this stupid beverage container law is about 30 years old and totally outdated.........can anyone say GREEN.....we need to be recycling every thing...no just soda and beer cans.......wow.....keep your heads in the sand and load up those garbage cans every week......you get to throw everything under the sun away......except for soda cans.......oh my goodness....and for those cry baby redemtion folks, you can all get jobs in the recycling industry, if we had one.....but no.....send it all to the perk plant.....I hope our kids kids can see the light at the end of the tunnel....John Martin's generation is totally out of date and out of touch with the new realities............stupid, stupid, stupid.............

I'AM SURE THE STATE GOVERMENT WORKERS MUST HAVE MORE IMPORTANT THINGS TO DO THAN WORRY ABOUT WEATHER OR NOT I RETURN MY BOTTLES TO THE REDEMTION CENTER OR TO THE LAND FILL. ITS MY NICKLE. I DON'T CARE IF THE BOTTLING CO. KEEPS IT BUT I DO CARE IF A OVERGROWN STATE GOVERMENT WITH TO MANY OVERPAID AND OVER-BENIFED EMPLOYEES GET IT TO HELP CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR LAVISH LIFESTYLES. BAD STORM YESTERDAY, I HAD TO WORK. [LUCKY TO HAVE A JOP. HERE COME THE BOTTLE POLICE. WONDER WHAT THEY GET PAID.

Boy, how about all those tourists who visit Maine every year and enjoy the pristine quality of the environment, a lobster dinner at one of so many wonderful eateries, and ice cream in the evening at one of those take out stands......just a wonderful, beautiful experience in the great state of Maine, and then the punchline........on the way out of town, stopping at one of those fly infested, rat infested, dirty beyond belief...Redemtion Centers scattered around in old run down garages........can you say gross out.......just a great way to leave that final lasting impression of the great state of Maine....hope that big old fly didn't hit them in the face.......sickening..........really............just to redeem some empty soda cans............thanks a lot, folks for showing them the door out of town..................nasty last impression, heh............????

What is it that the folks in Augusta don't understand? Every solution to every problem is another TAX! Do not go back 15 years - just go to your local redemption center today. They probably feel that they are working too cheaply, Augusta won't budge - so they routinely under count and there's the extra payoff.

I lately have been using the machines in the grocery - when they work - but at least they are honest..

I feel that we should scrap the tax all together. My town has recycling- let them pick them up at the curb and sell the aluminum and glass and help reduce my property tax - Essentially we are paying twice to get rid of the bottles now - once in the store and again on my tax bill.

Mr. Martin isn't your bed ready at the Eagle Lake Nursing Home?? Please! Why don't worry about Jobs and Roads!!

I'm a bit confused about the comments here. Apparently, many of you would rather see the owners of these bottling companies making hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra profits by underreporting their non-returns rather than have the state collect the money which would go to the general fund to help hold the line on taxes. This is lost tax revenue that all of us end up paying for. Wake up - these underreported returns are ultimately coming out of your pockets!

The idea is...just my opinion...ask for 15 years and the bottlers/distributors will negotiate a lesser time and we all win to some degree..

Cost of an audit covering 15 years is unreasonable, very costly, and how accurate do you think the records would be that they are looking at? Why do we always wait until things are in such disrepair before we dedide to look into the matter. A 3 year audit makes more sense-.because there have been so many more products on the market with redemption values in the last few years.

The bottlers/distributors with commingling agreementsget to keep--- your nickle-- paid out on products you don't return. Sounds like a substantial raise in income for them..and a loss for you and me.

Please don't degrade the Redemption Centers...We are all business owners and work hard for our income....yes, some are more honest then others, but, that is with all business. And cleanliness well, that is up to the indivdual owner...we receive comments regularly on how ours does not smell like a redemption center...has a nice clean smell--bleach and pine sol do wonders...and to me, it's all about the health and safety of our employees..

Northwoods_Maine, This is no more than political payback aimed at businesses who opposed sales taxes on all of us. Nothing more. This is John Martin holding a financial gun to head of business who employ people in Maine. What is different now from a decade ago?

As was mentioned earlier, this should do nothing more than raise awareness for the need to develop a comprehensive recycling program. All cans, jugs, cardboard etc.. Recycle, reduce, reuse as much as possible folks.

What a bunch of negative ninnies. Northwoods_Maine is the only one that gets it. Why should the bottlers enjoy this slush fund. We are all forced to pay these bottle deposits as mandated by the State. It's not fair that the bottlers get to keep the money if people don't redeem them. Leave it to a northern Mainer to figure that out.

Too bad we can't redeem John Martin.

Bottlers should get to keep the money because they provide frigging jobs to people and pay taxes etc......auditing them for 15 years back is harrasment of business in maine. Martin is all about personal vendetta's and not about what is best for all Mainers...but we keep voting him in..our own damn fault..

Rep. John Martin needs an audit of his brain.

My God when are the voters going to wake up and do something about these political thugs that just want to micromanage every aspect of life?

I agree with Scintilate...Public schools, public highways, public libraries, minimum wage laws, child labor laws, women's right to vote, civil rights laws, paid vacations, pensions,...All terrible socialist ideas...What is going to become of us...?

........who actually owns these soft drink companies?? The last I had heard, Pepsi was foreign bought and not sure about Coca cola company but if it is like most large money making companies here in the USA it to is probably foreign owned as well, what do these foreign owners serve to gain, are they the ones that pocket all this money over the years from the un returned items?

The legislator wants to return the money to the coffers of the state not to the people of Maine. Sounds like another bright idea to run businesses out of Maine.

Ladies and Gentleman, your tax dollars hard at work.......... what an absolute, incompetent buffoon.

freedomfighter = misnomer

Some of these said bottles and cans make it out of state. Me and my brothers took a bunch of cans bought in Maine to the race In NH last year.

We did not have the space to haul them back so they went in the dumpster at the campground. Hopefully to be recycled or, with the way this state accepts out of state trash they might have ended up at Juniper Ridge landfill... Time for Maine to be a tad more business friendly.

Someday I will be taxed for that last post, so we can have broadband in T9-R17.