As you report (“Maine property taxes are high. What can lawmakers do about it?” Sept. 25), property taxes in Maine are hurting people on fixed incomes, which includes many in retirement. Attempts to rein in costs include the defunct 2022 stabilization program, rebates on property taxes, increased revenue to towns and a tax deferral program. However, such approaches involve additional costs, and so involve more state taxes or a reduction in services.

According to the Maine Municipal Association , as of 2016, the average Maine community uses 68% of its property taxes for education. And here we see a disconnect between what is paid and what is achieved.

As columnist Douglas Rooks states: “When Maine ranked high on the NAEP, it confirmed the hard work going into education. Now that it’s fallen precipitously, it really doesn’t matter, according to top educational leaders.” 

In other words, we spend more than half of our property taxes on education, but the educational establishment is not holding up its end of the bargain. One potential solution, then, would involve some connection between educational achievement (as measured by NAEP) and pay for teachers and administrators. 

In every other field of work, the better we do, the more we are paid. Making this hold in education would mean that property taxes would be high only if educational achievement was high, and vice versa. Having both high property taxes and low educational achievement means we are getting the worst of both worlds.

William Vaughan Jr.
Chebeague Island