Question 2 on the Maine ballot in November is to raise the state tax rate for a taxpayer by 3 percentage points from the current 7.15 percent to 10.15 percent, but that extra 3 percent would only apply to the amount of taxable income above $200,000. The 3 percent would not affect the taxable portion of the income before the $200,000 level. And the $200,000 figure is the bottom limit only after the standard deduction or the deductions for things that middle- and upper-income Mainers are allowed: payments for other taxes, donations to many charities including schools, and mortgage interest, for example.

Under this proposal, a taxpayer who reports $270,000 income after all deductions would be charged the additional 3 percent only on the $70,000. The resulting $2,100 would be committed to education and would move Maine toward the state’s 55 percent commitment that we voted into place 12 years ago but have never reached.

Under our administration, the Legislature has twice reduced the tax rate for this category of taxpayer and increased the regressive sales tax, which everyone pays. The costs of schools and local governments have not gone down, so property tax rates have climbed, and will climb further if the administration’s further cutbacks are approved.

Jim Perkins

Wayne