"Maine’s sales tax burden is nation’s third lowest" (Bangor: tax lien, 2013)

[Submariner]

"Maine’s sales tax burden is nation’s third lowest"

Lawmakers find little to cheer about in report that Maine

"... Maine’s sales tax rate of 5 percent is third-lowest among states that have sales taxes at all."

" ... is scheduled to increase to 5.5 percent on Oct. 1 due to a biennial budget bill enacted in June that includes temporary increases to the sales, meals and lodging taxes."

"... Even at 5.5 percent, Maine’s sales tax rate would be fifth-lowest in the country and the state is known for its relatively narrow list of goods and services that are subject to the sales tax at all."

"... Despite the Tax Foundation’s high marks on Maine’s sales tax, it ranks the state as having an above-average income tax burden, the eighth-highest nationwide."

Sen. Roger Katz says “Any time we attempt to change the tax code we hear from everyone who thinks their ox is being gored ... The whole point of our reform proposal was to lower the overall tax on Maine people.”
Maine’s low sales tax collections put too much pressure on income and property taxes, the latter of which they view as regressive because it doesn’t account for a property owner’s ability to pay. “We all have control over what we pay in sales taxes because of what we decide to buy,” said Katz. “If an increase and a broadening of sales taxes buys you a reduction in the income and property taxes, I think that makes sense. Starting from scratch, there’s no one who would design the current tax structure we have.”

Sen. Doug Thomas says “I don’t have a problem with our sales tax rate, ... I dislike the income tax and property tax much more than the sales tax. I wish we would allow people to put a roof over their head and food on their table before we decide to tax them.”



I find it interesting that so many want to argue about taxes, but there is much less discussion about cutting spending.

[Northern Maine Land Man]

Back around 1994 The legislature raised the sales tax to 6 % for a few years. It was supposed to reset to 5% on a given date. Angus King was governor and he was a big spender. He said we could not go back to5%, but we could go to 5.5%. Dennis Bailey was Angus' mouthpiece and he advocated for the 5.5%. Many general stores could not program in the 5.5% in older cash registers. Storekeepers and customers began to snip pennies in half with EMT scissors and metal shears. We called it Angus King's half fast tax cut. I guess this time it is Emily Cain's half fast tax increase.

After a few weeks, Angus realized he was not going to be reelected if he stuck by the half fast tax cut so he dropped it to 5% where it belongs. This time around they are not only going to raise taxes, they want voters to approve $150 in new debt. It will be on the november ballot.

[Mark S.]

We moved to Maine from Washington State, which has no state income tax and supposedly a lower tax burden. We make less money in Maine than we did in Washington, but our standard of living is MUCH higher in Maine than it ever was in Washington. How that shakes out, I honestly couldn't tell you. But it does. That said, we're not people who insist on a McMansion and two new cars in the driveway every 3 years. We can't vacation in Hawaii, but we don't sit in traffic for 3 hour a day or have crack dealers living in the neighborhood, so all in all, I much prefer the standard of living here than anywhere else I've ever lived.

[Submariner]

Originally Posted by Mark S.

We moved to Maine from Washington State, which has no state income tax and supposedly a lower tax burden. We make less money in Maine than we did in Washington, but our standard of living is MUCH higher in Maine than it ever was in Washington. How that shakes out, I honestly couldn't tell you. But it does. That said, we're not people who insist on a McMansion and two new cars in the driveway every 3 years. We can't vacation in Hawaii, but we don't sit in traffic for 3 hour a day or have crack dealers living in the neighborhood, so all in all, I much prefer the standard of living here than anywhere else I've ever lived.

When I was homeported out of Bangor Wa, we owned a home in Bremerton. We thought about retiring in the PNW. A lot of my old buddies 'retired' there, each of them had to shift into corporate jobs to support their 'retirement'.

I did a lot of shopping for a place to homestead in the area. We toured around the Grey's Harbor area, and on the Olympic Peninsula, as well as up in the North-Eastern high plains corner on the state.

We made trips into Northern Oregon, and around Elko Nevada; just meeting with realtors and looking at properties. We took a trip to Victoria and drove up to Port Hardy once. Another time to Whistler; all trying to find a lifestyle and cost-of-living combo that we would want for our retirement, that would not require a 60-hour/week corporate job to supplement my pension.

I can see what your saying entirely.

[Mark S.]

People who had been in Washington for decades told me that it was a great place to live at one time. But then in the 1980s Microsoft boomed, and half of California moved to the Seattle area. Local communities completely fumbled when it came to upgrading the infrastructure to support the population. They have enough highway to support half the cars on the road at any given time, which is why I spent 85 minutes in traffic each day to go 16 miles.

In the early '90s the street gangs began to move up from California, and by the time the local police realized they had a severe gang problem on their hands, it was too late to do anything about it. When I was lamenting to a local officer about the situation in our neighborhood, he told me flat out they couldn't do anything. He said, "Yeah, I could go arrest three people across the street from your house right now. But they'll be back out on the street by Monday because our judges won't keep them in jail." I asked him what we could do. He laughed and said, "Move." So I did. Never regretted it.

[KEVIN_224]

Do any cities in Maine levy their own sales tax on top of the state amount?

Here in Connecticut, our state sales tax is 6.35%, after being 6% since the early 1990s. It was as high as 8% until we had our first income tax introduced in 1991. I'm not aware of any cities or counties here having a sales tax higher than the state level.

I think Philadelphia city/county is 1% higher than much of Pennsylvania.

[JoulesMSU]

1) I think it's disingenuous to claim "third lowest" while NOT counting states that have 0%, which is the LOWEST you can possibly get (zero is still a number too, last I checked).

2) Back in Michigan we had a 6% sales tax and 4.25% income tax. I believe Maine has 5% sales tax but something like 7.95% income tax. I much prefer the Michigan "model", because (besides being much cheaper overall) it's better to have lower income tax compared to sales tax in general.

The 7.95% income tax here is completely ridiculous IMO. California, Oregon, Hawaii, and Washington DC are the only places with higher income taxes for normal wages (I mean, sure, New Jersey has a higher rate once you get up to $500,000/year, but that's not very relevant for most people). Considering the state of Maine's economy, it makes no sense to put such a burden on its workers (especially considering how few good jobs there are here in the first place).

http://taxfoundation.org/article_ns/...ates-2000-2013


This ratio of "higher income tax, lower sales tax" seems especially insane to me when you consider that Maine's major sources of income are from tourists and retirees - neither of which pay income taxes!

[namder1]

Sales tax in California varies from county to county. Where I lived it was 7.50%. But when the recession hit they raised it 1% for a year. I've also lived in N.H. and Florida where there is no sales tax. Sure wish it was zero here......

[flycessna]

Originally Posted by Submariner

"Maine’s sales tax burden is nation’s third lowest"

Lawmakers find little to cheer about in report that Maine

"... Maine’s sales tax rate of 5 percent is third-lowest among states that have sales taxes at all."

" ... is scheduled to increase to 5.5 percent on Oct. 1 due to a biennial budget bill enacted in June that includes temporary increases to the sales, meals and lodging taxes."

"... Even at 5.5 percent, Maine’s sales tax rate would be fifth-lowest in the country and the state is known for its relatively narrow list of goods and services that are subject to the sales tax at all."

"... Despite the Tax Foundation’s high marks on Maine’s sales tax, it ranks the state as having an above-average income tax burden, the eighth-highest nationwide."

Sen. Roger Katz says “Any time we attempt to change the tax code we hear from everyone who thinks their ox is being gored ... The whole point of our reform proposal was to lower the overall tax on Maine people.”
Maine’s low sales tax collections put too much pressure on income and property taxes, the latter of which they view as regressive because it doesn’t account for a property owner’s ability to pay. “We all have control over what we pay in sales taxes because of what we decide to buy,” said Katz. “If an increase and a broadening of sales taxes buys you a reduction in the income and property taxes, I think that makes sense. Starting from scratch, there’s no one who would design the current tax structure we have.”

Sen. Doug Thomas says “I don’t have a problem with our sales tax rate, ... I dislike the income tax and property tax much more than the sales tax. I wish we would allow people to put a roof over their head and food on their table before we decide to tax them.”



I find it interesting that so many want to argue about taxes, but there is much less discussion about cutting spending.

EXACTLY!! People talk about taxes all the time but few look at the spending. The government in one way or another has the people right where they want them... everyone's afraid of losing something but they don't want to pay for it..

When the debate about the sales tax increasing the first thing I thought of was, well if they are cutting spending, reducing taxes elsewhere like "income" then a sales tax is one of the best places I can think of to raise revenue.. its indirect, I have control over it, and it outsources some of the income to out of stators who are here on vacation.

[cebdark]

If they added as little as a penny tax to every roll in a pack of toilet paper, that would be a "fair" tax IMHO. Everyone needs TP.

I agree with sensible cutting of spending. I would rather see investment in infrastructure and small business employers who would then turn around and pay their employees a wage which would at least allow them to meet basic living expenses without assistance from the state. I recently tried to help a friend find a new place to rent. OMG! The rents are ridiculous (yes, I know, thanks in part to property taxes, but STILL)...

If the homestead exemption is ever dumped, I'm screwed. So will be many other families. I don't live in a brand new McMansion or drive a new car either. I live fairly frugally. I found this article in BDN. It sounds very familiar to me.

http://bangordailynews.com/2013/01/2...axes-increase/

"When I first bought the house in 2002, the taxes passed to me were $672. Here are the years that follow from 2003 to 2011 for property taxes in Eastport, with the first jump in 2003: $869, $762, $801, $948, $1,078, $1,184, $1,345, $1,529 and $1,617. As one can read, I pay nearly $1,000 more in property taxes than 10 years ago, and that is with the state aid for education, municipal revenue sharing and the Homestead Exemption firmly in place.

In 2002, my land was assessed at $4,512 and my building was assessed at $26,752. My land in 2012 was assessed at $25,300, with the building at $55,000. A modest dwelling has taken on assessments that have soared in 10 years, thus insurance increases kept in line. Tax lien, anyone?"