The odds of Sen. Joe Perry convincing the Legislature to approve a $25 million state bond to pay for a new Bangor auditorium and civic center are about the same as the odds that a behind-the-back, full-court shot has of swishing the net. Rather than pat the senator on the back for his long-shot effort, the city’s legislative delegation ought to consider aiming at a more equitable funding mechanism — the local option sales tax.
A $25 million bond issue will not win legislative approval because legislators from Presque Isle, York, Rumford or Eastport would not be able to defend the proposal to their constituents. If approved in a referendum, it would use their taxes for a project with little benefit to their lives. And if it passed, those same legislators would be proposing similar bond issues for their pet projects, which is another reason to stay away from a bond issue.
It’s true that communities across eastern, central and northern Maine would benefit from a new auditorium and civic center. Such facilities are economic development tools, albeit low-key ones. They allow businesses to network and provide opportunities for large-scale marketing, such as at boat and RV shows. The facilities also boost a region’s cultural assets, which improves the quality of life, which in turn leads to business relocations.
A more equitable way to fund such a facility is to give Bangor — and other service-center communities — the right to adopt a local option sales tax. It’s an idea that has been floated before, but failed to win legislative approval. It could be structured very simply. If voters of the service center — in this case, Bangor — vote to approve the measure, a 1 percent sales tax would be added to the existing state sales tax of 5 percent. Virtually all of the additional revenue (giving the state a small portion for handling the funds) would be directed to the city.
The Legislature could designate other service-center communities that also could adopt the tax. The fairness of such a proposal lies in the burden these municipalities bear. Bangor may have as many as 100,000 people within its borders on a busy weekday. That means the city needs more police to respond to vehicle collisions, shoplifting complaints and petty crime, and the fire department must be large enough to fight a blaze at the mall. Bangor roads get more wear and tear, and so they must be repaired more frequently. And as a center for commerce, City Hall must be staffed to accommodate property inspections, tax billing and so on.
Similar scenarios are played out in service centers across the state. The Legislature could designate which municipalities are able to adopt the local sales tax — at least one in each county — and then turn the decision over to voters in those communities. There are, of course, reasons why voters might reject the local sales tax hike. Chief among them is that it could discourage sales.
But consider the boon the revenue could provide for service centers. The funds could be designated for public safety and road maintenance, or applied as a windfall to property tax reduction. Or they could be used for that one-time construction project, like a performance space and conference center.