Maine Mayors Push to Allow Local Sales Taxes

The Maine Center for Economic Policy (MECEP) is a left-leaning lobbying group that urged lawmakers to vote no on allowing local sales taxes at a hearing in Augusta on Wednesday.

“To be super blunt, poor people will be paying the highest proportion of funds that will be raised in this way,” said Sarah Austin, a policy analyst with MECEP.

The organization thinks raising the income tax on high earners would accomplish the same goal as allowing a municipal sales tax without cutting into the already tight budgets of low-income families.

“One thing that’s critical when it comes to paying for things: We all need is making sure its done in a fair way,” she said.

Click here to read the full story, first published March 28, 2019, in NECN.