“Do you favor a $71,250,000 bond issue for improvements to highways and bridges, airports, public transit facilities, ferry and port facilities, including port and harbor structures, as well as funds for the LifeFlight Foundation that will make the State eligible for over $148,000,000 in federal and other matching funds?”
BANGOR, Maine — Compared to statewide debates and multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns that have raged over many of the referendum questions on the Nov. 3 ballot, Question 6, which would invest more than $72 million in the state’s transportation infrastructure, has garnered little attention.
Click here to see a list of projects funded by the bond.
Still, the bond question’s impact on people’s everyday lives — especially those lucky enough to live near a project funded by it — is beyond debate for many.
“We never want to be complacent, but I’m confident that Maine people value investments in transportation,” said Transportation Commissioner David Cole. “In this bond you know what you’re getting. It may not be terribly romantic stuff but it’s bread-and-butter, must-do kinds of things.”
Question 6: How do you plan to vote on the $71.25 million transportation bond issue?
Yes
No
The bulk of the $71 million package — $55 million — would pour into the Department of Transportation’s capital project plan for the next two years. The overall $637 million plan includes 125 bridge projects, 228 miles of long-life paving and 34 miles of highway reconstruction.
Cole said the $55 million would leverage $110 million in federal funding. With the state facing an unfunded projects backlog of some $3 billion over the next 10 years, Cole said having matching funds for any federal handouts is crucial.
“We do everything we can to mitigate impacts on our federal funding,” Cole said. “We’ve already got a major funding gap. … [Failure of Question 6] would add to the growing backlog of projects that needs to get done.”
The rest of the $71 million bond would fund a specific list of projects. Most of them are portions of long-term plans to improve connectivity in the state’s transportation infrastructure so goods and people can transfer fluidly among road, rail, water and air. Prime examples of the need are evident throughout Maine.
In Eastport, $4.5 million from the bond would build a bulk-cargo handling system for the transfer of everything from gravel to salt to wood pellets. Christopher Gardner, director of the Eastport Port Authority, is the kind of guy whose passion for the project is worn on his sleeve.
“In the shipping business, you have to be able to move a lot at once,” Gardner said. “The world is moving to larger vessels and we have the deepest natural seaport in the Eastern United States.”
The port already handles pulp for the Domtar paper mill in Baileyville, but Gardner said there are other opportunities. One is wood pellets, and not the kind sold at the local hardware store. European factories and power generators will buy industrial-grade pellets in as big a load as can float, said Gardner. Two manufacturers are probing the possibility of building plants near Eastport — but only if the port can handle pellets.
“Think about the opportunity we have here in Maine,” said Gardner.
It’s easy to recognize the value of plans like Eastport’s, but the question faced by voters is whether the state can afford the investment. State government revenues have been plummeting since early 2008 and lawmakers have been forced to trim hundreds of millions of dollars of spending. When they return to Augusta in January, the cutting will continue.
However, enough money has been budgeted in 2010 ($94 million) and 2011 ($102 million) to pay for this bond and the state’s other obligations. According to the state treasurer’s office, the state is already making payments on a total of $592 million in highway and general fund borrowing including interest. Another $83 million in borrowing has been approved by voters in elections dating back to 2005. Most of it will be drawn down by the end of 2009, according to Deputy Treasurer Barbara Raths.
Question 6 would cost $19.6 million in interest for a 10-year note at 5 percent, bringing the total cost to taxpayers in the long run to $90,843,750. It is the first of a three-part voter approval process for a total of $150 million in borrowing that was negotiated by the Legislature as its final act of business in June. Voters will be asked for the remainder of the total package in June and November 2010.
That may seem like a lot of borrowing, but the bond’s proponents say the state is still well within its resources.
Christopher St. John, director of the Maine Center for Economic Policy, a liberal think tank, said he views Question 6 as a valuable investment.
“It is not in itself the solution to the long-term challenge, but it is a necessary and valuable step,” St. John said. “It is also good from a job and economy point of view. We have a lot of construction people out of work. We think this is a good buy.”
Stephen Bowen of the Maine Heritage Policy Center, a conservative think tank, said his organization has not taken a position on Question 6. As a major supporter of Question 4, which would require voter approval for government spending increases, the Maine Heritage Policy Center supports the fact that voters will decide on Question 6.
“We’re happy with giving voters a choice,” said Bowen.
Sen. Dennis Damon, D-Trenton, the Senate chairman of the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, said he hopes all the “rhetoric” that has aired in recent months about the search for maintenance paving funds won’t confuse voters.
“This bond is an important piece of what we’re doing,” he said.
Another member of the Transportation Committee, Rep. Douglas Thomas, R-Ripley, sees it a different way.
“I don’t like the way money is being spent in the Department of Transportation,” said Thomas. “Before you pour more water in the bucket you need to fix the holes in the bucket.”
Asked whether others share his position on Question 6, Thomas said there aren’t many.
“I think I’m on this limb by myself,” he said. “I just don’t approve of the way the department spends its money.”
Maine voters have supported every transportation bond dating back to 1969 and perhaps longer, according to Maria Fuentes, director of the Maine Better Transportation Association, which has been supporting Question 6 through its membership and visits with news organizations.
“One thing we hear from folks all over the state is that most people know about roads in their area that need improvement,” she said. “This bond is all about jobs and safety. That’s why we’re supporting it.”
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