AUGUSTA, Maine — Gov. Paul LePage has issued another veto, this time of a bill that sought to increase filing fees charged by county registries of deeds in property transactions.
When a Maine resident buys property, documents are filed with the registry of deeds in the county where the property or land is located. Those documents become the public record of the transaction and are available for others who might want to inspect or make copies.
In many cases, those fees don’t cover the counties’ costs, according to Rep. Bradley Moulton, R-York, who sponsored LD 1550 because some counties were losing money.
As first drafted, the bill would have nearly doubled the registry-of-deeds filing fees from $13 to $25. Once it went through the legislative process, it was amended to increase the fees from $13 to $19.
“This bill is a tax increase and I cannot support it,” the governor wrote in his veto letter. “The registries of deeds are profit centers for the county governments used to subsidize other government functions. I believe fees are paid for a service and if counties want a tax increase, then they should go ahead and justify it on the merits.”
Moulton said he expected LD 1550 to be vetoed, but he disagreed with the governor’s characterization.
He said county government is supported by a variety of fees and taxes. Cutting fees for one function of county government can affect another function if it creates a shortfall that must then be made up by raising taxes or cutting services.
If the fee increase outlined in LD 1550 is not approved, Moulton said county government collectively will face a $1 million shortfall that could be made up by property taxes.
LePage’s letter continued: “Why should a family purchasing a new home be forced to pay more for a sheriff that protects the entire county? If county governments are having difficulty balancing their budgets, they should keep working to reduce spending. They should not try to subsidize their other operations with recording fees.”
Moulton said the governor shared with him recently his experience serving on the Kennebec County budget committee several years ago.
“He said counties make too much money,” Moulton said. “But Kennebec County has laid off people, so I don’t think that’s really the case.”
The Legislature will take up the governor’s veto when it reconvenes in mid-May. In a veto override vote, two-thirds of the Legislature must support overturning the governor’s veto.
Follow BDN writer Eric Russell on Twitter at @BDNPolitics.
Thank you lepage for vetoing this disgrace of a “law”
Maine citizens are taxed enough already, and we can’t keep raising fees and taxes continuously to cover the mistakes of previous administrations.
we can no longer kick the can down the road.
We need to start making drastic cuts, it’s the only way our state will survive through this mess.
sadly, the delusional democrats truly believe we are coming out of the current financial mess…
it’s terrible to think of how damaging their policies will be in the long term…how many of our children and grand children will live broken, destitute lives so the modern day, selfish democrat progressive can live a marginally comfortable life off unsustainable public debt and plundering everyone else’s dime
LePage had it all: the gubernatorial throne, Republican majorities in the Senate and House, and even a cushiony job to hand over to his daughter.
But what a joke it has been. This veto is just another bit of theater that will divide the people of Maine over a quibble.
So you think that we need even more taxes?
You like your hard earned money being taken from you by force?
I certainly don’t, especially when it’s completely unnecessary!
We don’t need any more taxes, we’re taxed more than enough as it is.
It’s a fee, not a tax. It’s not any different from raising the price of cookies. If you can afford a house, what difference is $6 going to make?
you’re right, it’s not a tax, at least not directly.
But don’t you think that the towns and counties might… i don’t know… recuperate the increased fees by taxing the citizens?
or do these counties just have a bunch of spare money kicking around so that they can afford to pay the higher fees without raising taxes?
um, by NOT charging the fee they will HAVE to increase taxes.
So, now you and I get to pay a little more every year for every house that some sumemr jerk buys. Boy, that sounds like a great deal for “maine people”. Sheesh.
OR they could just cut spending?
that way they don’t have to raise taxes.
Or, they could just charge the people using the service and leave the rest of us out of it.
I don’t go to school or have kids in school. By your logic I don’t have to pay that portion of my taxes. I’m starting to like you.
Your analogy is not accurate. I believe some one up above tried explaining the difference between a fee and a tax and you didn’t understand it. (This is not an insult: it’s a statement of fact). A fee only the user pays. Keeping a school up and running is a tax: therefore all share. There’s the difference between a fee (for use) and a tax. Want to register your deed, pay the 19 $ fee so there’s a record of your transaction. It’s really rather inexpensive. The governor is just kicking the can down the road and has accomplished not one thing with his short sighted policy statement. He, in fact, has effectively socialized registering a deed: we all must pay now.
A government fee for any service is a tax. I am sorry you can’t understand that. It is rather simple. If the government did not create a regulation that required the fee we would not be paying it.
No, they do NOT have to “increase taxes.” As I noted elsewhere, they can start requiring that county employees pay at least 15% of their own health insurance costs.
I wish I had $20 for every time I’ve heard that argument, over the years. After a few decades, all those “tiny amounts” add up. We had a school budget that was $13M in 1994. Today, that school budget is about $36M, for 800+ LESS students than we had in 1994. That massive cost increase was made up of thousands of “little” increases.
It’s time for all levels of government to stop spending other people’s money as if it will never run out.
But it was ok for the gov to increase “fees” on retirees.That was more than just a “little”.
Of course Naran thinks it is OK to raise “fees” on retirees. They were state employees and for a State or Municipal employee the right has never met a fee or tax they don’t like.
You don’t know jack about what I think is “OK” or not OK. You’d just prefer to pretend.
Yeah.
Schools are not living high on the hog. Most teachers spend their own personal money to buy supplies, especially for students who can’t afford their own. Do you buy the office supplies for your employer out of your own salary?
When gas and oil dramatically increase, schools don’t have many choices unless you want fifty students to each teacher or you want them to freeze, neither of which is good for learning which would lead to a less educated workforce.
It’s clear you are not familiar with the school district in my own area. Trust me when I say they have been living very much “high on the hog,” particularly over the last 20 years.
As I wrote above, their budget has increased from $13M in 1994 to $36M today, for some 800 LESS students today than in 1994.
80% of the budget is salaries and benefits. 80%+ of the total increase since 1994 is salaries and benefits.
They don’t call this the “Gold Coast” of Maine for no reason.
Do you have any idea what the teachers in the K’bunk school system made for an annual wage back in that era? I do and for a teacher with over 25 years it was just barely over my starting wage straight out of college 10 years earlier. I was paid so poorly at the time that I couldn’t afford an apartment without several roommates. 10 years later that’s what Kennebunk was paying an experienced teacher. While your facts may be correct they should be taken in context.
How about you come here to my school district here in Madison
(SAD 59) and see how its not living high on the hog. This district is currently having towns pull out, having huge enrollment drops, budget skyrocketing to higher levels than ever before. It has sports programs that are failing with cost getting out of control. The District aslo is a failing one. Maine needs major reforms on spending , welfare and on schools. The costs are becoming out of control and Mainers want change.
With due respect, Naran, when a recording officer performs a service for someone because of a private matter (recording the deed for a transfer of private property) isn’t it right that they should pay for those costs rather than passing them on to other taxpayers?
What you say is true on its face. However, the forces driving the fee increase request aren’t necessarily valid.
As I wrote elsewhere on this page, unless all county employees are paying at least 15% of their health insurance costs, the counties shouldn’t be asking for a fee increase.
That should be for the county to decied not the Gov., Do you know the pay invloved with those benefits? If warranted, increase the pay and cut the benefits or should they just cut, cut, cut cut.
So the county employee should pay for you to buy a house? For you to sell a house? You do realize the hypocrisy don’t you? Like the previous poster said, I also offer you all the respect to which you are due.
It is a fee paid to a government agency. That is by definition a tax.
By definition, it is not a tax.
Merriam-Webster defines “tax” as “a charge usually of money imposed by authority on persons or property for public purposes.”
The charge in question is a fee, not unlike a fee one must pay for copies of registry of deeds records or for a copy of one’s birth certificate, marriage certificate, or automobile crash report.
It is imposed on persons for public purposes… That is ecactly what this ‘fee’ is. Thank you for making my argument.
So you think admission to the Bangor State Fair is actually a tax, not a fee? After all, a portion of the money goes to the city.
When you file a document with the registry of deeds, there’s a lot of paperwork involved for the registry. That’s what the fee is for.
Yes both cases are taxes. The first is a tax imposed on the fair. The second is a service that is provided by the state due to state regulation. If there was no need for the registration of deeds this is funding and services that would not be needed.
No, a tax is levied on all residents, a fee is only levied on the user. BIG difference.
Since the fee wasn’t passed, you can bet they’ll raise taxes to cover the costs. So now YOU get to pay more because SOMEONE ELSE sells their house. Oh boy!
> a tax is levied on all residents,
No, it is not, many taxes are levied on indivuals or small groups. Taxes are not fairly levied and never have been.
Fee/Tax it can be spun either way we don’t need any new tax increases. What we need is Government to have the guts to cut spending. To cut Welfare Programs. Mainers shouldn’t have to pay for anymore tax increases so it can be blown on pet projects. What Maine needs is TABOR at levels of Government and Consolidating at levels of Government. When are we going to stop the handouts and freebies. Mainers need a government they can afford so they won’t be taxed out of our homes. Those who want to pay this tax send more money into Maine Revenue.
the only people buying are from away, they can afford it.
If you want less taxes, what services are you willing to give up or have reduced in quality?
There are a million ways to opt out of this argument. You only see it as a raise the tax or not, when in reality there are lots of ways to make changes in the administration process, not raise costs or taxes and still get the job done, sometimes even better than before you woke up the admin. process to the possibility. If you have never managed a big budget you just wouldn’t understand the options. The argument you make is like the proverbial school board that, faced with a no tax increase citizenry, opts to cut bus services to hurt them where it huts them most. The smart solution is to find ways around the problems. 31dot needs to think more broadly.
I really wish downvotes can be given. Rather than discuss the merits or problems you see with this you can only throw out a bunch of stuff that has nothing to do with this to try to belittle someone. If all liberals are as small minded as you I really hope he gets in again so we can again have a term of reduction of cost to the poor working classs of this state and get you guys wound up even more.
Would you like to be forced to provide a service for someone if you were going to lose money on the deal? You can’t just say cut,cut ,cut without increasing revenues somewhere to go along with
the cuts . It won’t work. If you expect someone do provide a service for you then you should be willing to pay for it or don’t ask for it.
Reread the article……not all counties lose money providing this service, but they want to increase fees for all.
My complaint was that they didn’t talk about the article. They used a classic ad hominen attack on the governor rather than use intelligent arguments about the issue.
I’m glad you think that another couple hundred dollars per year in property taxes, every year, is a “quibble.” Between the school district, municipal, and county increases, our town residents are paying at least 65%+ more in taxes than we were in 1995.
If these kinds of increases don’t concern you, all I can say is that it must be wonderful to be that financially insulated.
Maybe the valuations of your property have gone up greater than 65% accounting for the increase. I have no statistics to show this, but don’t you live in the seaside community of Wells?
No. I am quoting mil rate increases, not valuation amounts.
I live in Kennebunk.
Mil Rate increases do not necessarily mean taxes are going up nor do Mil Rate decreases mean taxes are going down. If a town re-evaluates the property values in a town and that value increases the mil rate may go down but the amount of taxes you actually pay could remain the same.
For example your town was valued at $200 million for the last 10 years and then the value of the town goes up to $300 million. That would result in your Mil rate going down but the amount of taxes in actual dollars could go up, remain the same or go down depending on the budget increase or decrease.
I am aware of the valuations in my town, and my analysis of the mil rate increase takes those into account.
Kennebunk did a full reval in 2003, for the first time in 25 years. Since then, only spot revals have taken place.
Taxes in this town have risen dramatically. Most of it is attributable to the school budget, which has risen some 280% since 1994. However, the town has done its own share of spending over the years, including off-books expenditures from surplus.
The real tax increase is probably more like 85%, if one took those off-books expenditures into consideration.
I just wish he had vetoed the MPBN funding.
“Using the money of taxpayers and members, the president and chief
executive officer of MPBN paid himself $187,021 last year, over four
times what the rest of us make on average.”
Terrible!
Read more here…http://wot7.com/?p=14.
It does seem as if the public “cash cow” needs a tether, KH. Thank you.
What the rest of us make is irrelevant; what is relevant is if they make much more than comparable positions, such as the president of WCSH. If the MPBN pres. makes more than the WCSH pres, then yeah, there’s a problem.
That doesn’t apply when public dollars are used for a significant portion of the funding.
So, sometimes it’s ok cuz it’s a user fee and sometimes the fee for use is a tax? They are all one or the other. When PLeP wants an increase it’s a use fee. When you do, it’s a tax. One thing for sure: it’s hypocrisy
Government loves to plead poverty, but in fact, it’s rare that some excess spending cannot be curtailed.
For instance, every Maine county needs to ensure their employees are making a reasonable contribution to their health insurance. Until recently, York County employees were contributing nothing to their own health insurance costs. ZERO. How many private sector employees can say that, these days?
http://www.journaltribune.com/articles/2011/06/04/news/doc4de8eef5df706801954571.txt
What about the rest of Maine’s county employees? Is your county requiring reasonable contributions, particularly in the face of skyrocketing insurance increases? If you don’t know, I hope you will ask the question of your local county commissioners, or your selectmen/council.
Wage freezes and benefit contributions must be examined before counties start talking about tax increases to the member towns and cities.
The idea is to CUT wasteful spending at all levels of government. Doing that will assure that there is NO budget shortfall. Therefore, no additional taxes will need to be raised on struggling Mainers. This is a win win situation and LePage is right on this issue.
Then he shouldn’t spend tax dollars fighting over a silly picture!
He isn’t. Those who launched the lawsuit and keep appealing the court decisions are the ones spending our tax dollars over a silly picture. The state has to defend the lawsuit and the appeals.
They’re spending their own money and you know it!
Every time they file a lawsuit which the state has to defend, they force the expenditure of tax dollars by the state.
—–
The governor removed the mural because of an anonymous fax, REMEMBER?
Why don’t you get this anonymous person to pay for the expenditure of tax dollars by the state?
“Anonymous” wants the mural gone,
“Anonymous” pays the price. What could be simpler and more fair?
Why don’t you send an anonymous fax and put an end to this nonsense????
ah yes, of course, now it’s a “silly picture”, instead of an important component of Maine’s artistic heritage that belonged in a state building…
It would be helpful to know how each chamber of the Legislature voted on this bill.
Actually, they don’t vote anymore. Haven’t you heard? LePage is a dictator now and is single-handedly responsible for all that is currently wrong in Augusta, as well as for all that was wrong in the past.
I know this to be true because a very smart, intellectual liberal told me so.
That wasn’t a liberal. It was a conservative with a hair across his butt who likes to make fun of things that are over his head. You fell for it.
And don’t forget Bush. We will be paying for that for the next 3 democratic terms.
I agree with Naran Row-Spaulding…WE SHOULD BE PAYING THE SAME FOR STUFF AS WE DID IN 1995 OR EVEN 1975. THERE IS NO NEED FOR COSTS TO GO UP BECAUSE EVERYTHING COSTS THE SAME AS IT DID IN 1995. These democrats are kicking the can down the road and just taxing us mnore and more with lame excuses for increases like “things cost more in 2013 than they did in 1995” THATS A BUNCH OF CRAP!!! and thats not at all what our fourfathers wanted.they wanted liberty and freedom. I say if you want a school…build your own for your own kids and as far as deeds and titles go..who needs them? Its just another form of taxation. Make your own deeds and titles!!!
like x1000.
If she could, we’d all be back in days hunter/ gather days, guy with the big stick wins.
Thank you for demonstrating the type of support that N. R-S generates. Costs are the same as in 1995, ROFL. P.S. Love the use of so many caps. It reminds me of the guy who thinks that he can make someone understand his language if he speaks slowly and loudly. Let me know how that works out next time you try Mandarin.
It is my understanding that the registry fees support the function of the Register of Deeds’ office. Whatever portion of the registry office’s budget is not supported by these fees, the taxpayers of the county have to pay. I see nothing wrong with having the users support the costs of a county function rather than all the taxpayers.
Out of curiosity, if he’s against increases in fees because he believes they are taxes, why did he sign the insurance reform law as is, which includes a $40 fee (tax) on every health insurance policy?
Because the same insurance reform law eliminated the previous health insurance claim tax, all of which is targeted to Dirigo Health. The per-claim surcharge was replaced by the new monthly surcharge.
That doesn’t sound like something our anti-tax gov would normally support–substituting one tax for another.
And, yet, that’s exactly what happened. Go figure.
Maybe the Governor isn’t exactly who you thought he was, after all.
As costs increase, municipal and county offices cannot maintain service levels without additional funds
To suggest that increasing the fees charged for the review, recording and return of legal instruments of property ownership is a tax is nonsense to begin with but what is more insidious is that not increasing the fees will necessitate an increase in local tax dollars being allocated to cover those costs.
Maine does tax real estate transfers (as do most other states), but these fees are simply costs incurred by government offices which, unless paid by the parties to the actual transfer, must be paid by taxpayers. It’s a way of reducing taxes.
The legislature realized this. They passed the authorization necessary to protect taxpayers from subsidizing these transfers.
Governor LePage is engaging in classic double-speak to spare folks who buy and sell property 6 bucks each time there’s a transfer and stealthily pass the entire burden onto taxpayers in general.
Who’s kidding whom?
As I wrote elsewhere — are all Maine counties requiring adequate health insurance contributions from their employees, and considering wage freezes? Most budgets are 80% salaries and benefits.
http://www.journaltribune.com/articles/2011/06/04/news/doc4de8eef5df706801954571.txt
Until recently, York County employees had 100% paid health insurance. Other counties are likely handing out the same perks.
Who’s kidding whom?
If the post were about snow in January, you would find a way to say something bad about employees working for a living.
Investment income good. Working for a living bad. Keep on riding the working class, you are afraid to have an open discussion, and don’t seem to know how to do anything but throw rocks in drive by postings.
What this article does not say is that the legislature reduced fees for copies in the Registry of Deeds causing this shortfall.
Have you a link to a source verifying your comment? Thank you.
Two bills passed by the legislature (LD 1499 passed last year and LD 1616 passed this year) did reduce registry copy fees by about $1 million per year statewide. The registries used to charge $1/page for electronic copies. Now they may only charge 50 cents/page. These bills resulted from a Faustian bargain between Sen. Thomas, who wanted to cut fees, and registers who wanted to prevent MacImage of Maine (my business) from setting up a statewide land records website that would compete with the 18 different registry websites. Prior law had limited the fees Maine’s registries could charge for copies of their databases to the cost of producing the copies (about $50,000 for copies of all 18 databases). Now, the law permits the counties to charge fees totaling $2 million for copies of their databases, effectively blocking MacImage or any other business from obtaining copies. In summary, the registers were willing to pay $1 million to protect their turf. But, no worries – registry filing fees still generate huge profits for the counties. The registries would be very profitable even if copies were free.
Mr. Simpson answered that LD 1499 last year.