LePage allows $40M in aid to cities, towns
A bill that will prevent $40 million in state aid cuts for Maine’s cities and towns next year passed into law after Gov. Paul LePage took no action on it yesterday.
Maine’s municipalities typically receive 5% of all state sales and income tax revenue, which would have been $138 million this year, according to an Associated Press report quoting the Maine Municipal Association. Without this extra money, the municipalities would have received only $20 million next year, the MMA said.
The bill passed into law early Wednesday and will go into effect 90 days after the Legislature adjourns in April. Feb. 25 was the deadline for the governor to veto the bill, sign it or let it become law without his signature, and he took no action, his press secretary, Adrienne Bennett, told the Bangor Daily News.
Mayors and town managers had asked lawmakers to prevent the cuts, which they said would result in steeper property taxes. But GOP lawmakers and LePage’s administration said the way the bill was funded was financially irresponsible, according to AP.
The biggest source of LePage’s opposition was the bill’s removal of $21 million from the rainy day fund — leaving it with about $38 million instead of the $60 million his office maintains is needed to preserve the state’s bond credit rating.
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