Each Candidate in The Monument's news area was offered an opportunity to participate in The Monument's Q&A section. Rep. Michael Vaughan and challenger Geoffrey Leighton 's answers are below. The other candidates Q&A were previously published. The Monument thanks all who participated and wishes all of you good luck November 2.

Debate in Print, Candidate Q&A Continued
Rep. Michael Vaughan (R- Durham), Maine House of Representatives, 105th district

1. What is your position on the Tax Cap referendum?

Leighton: Although I deeply believe that we need property tax reform I do not support the Tax Cap.

Like yourselves, I feel angry and disappointed that the incumbant legislature could not agree on a tax relief package, and that no one seemed to care that another year would go by without real tax reform. However, I am concerned that the Palesky tax cap will have long term and unintended consequences that will eliminate essential services that we count on. This is not thoughtful tax reform - it is a meat cleaver that will decimate our towns and schools.

I also believe that it is not enough to be against the Palesky Tax Cut, we must also be ready with a positive plan that will guarantee real tax relief as quickly as possible. That is why as a member of the State Chamber of Commerce I suggest that consideration be given to our tax relief plan. It is progressive so those who can afford it will pay more, it maintains local control, and it will cap the growth of government spending. Most importantly it is a product of a thoughtful process that involved the ideas and opinions of hundreds of businesses and individuals. To find out more about the Maine State Chamber of Commerce's plan you can go to http://www.mainechamber.org/news1.asp.

Vaughan: Maine is one of only seven states that have no limits on property taxes. The other 43 have some form of imposed limits on local property tax rates.

Also, Maine residents pay the highest property taxes in the country as a percentage of personal income.

It is clear that some form of tax relief for Maine citizens is long overdue.
Should it pass, I would resist any legislative with the resultant proposal which would require a 2/3 majority vote in the Legislature. Considering that Maine has one of the highest tax burdens in the US, and that the democrats in the legislature dropped the ball on "tax reform"…I'm positive they had no intention of lowering the tax burden on Maine residents, and the people are keenly aware of that.

When asked this question by voters, I've stated my belief; that by doing this, the Maine Legislature relinquished it's right to have an opinion. Some people didn't like that answer.

It's no secret that I believe in tax cuts and it says as much on my door-to-door card. In reality, Americans are governed and taxed by their consent. The tax cap is merely a manifestation of the people stating the
limitation of that consent.

I also would like to point out that the Maine Supreme Court has deemed much of the proposed legislation unworkable, as it would not treat all taxpayers the same according to their interpretation of the Maine Constitution.

In all likelihood much of the language would be removed from the body of the proposed statute, leaving it to calculate from current assessed values.
However the Court did not rule on the 1% property tax cap portion of the proposal, therefore that concept could still become law.

2. What would be your ideas to reduce the State deficit?

Leighton: Effectively reducing the state deficit requires a coordinated approach - first, we must create a business climate that attracts businesses that will invest money, pay taxes and hire workers who will in turn pay taxes. Creating this business environment means fair property taxes, affordable healthcare, low cost business insurance, a well educated workforce and simplified regulations. We also need to reduce the amount that our state government spends by lowering the costs of our healthcare system, consolidating municipal and school expenses, and reducing duplication and waste in the state government.

Vaughan: To Limit Government Spending.

One of the main reasons that the other side found themselves engaged in internal gridlock was that "tax reform" simply meant raising taxes, which went against a promise that the governor had made and wanted to appear to have kept.

Unfortunately, the massive hikes in "fees" and the new 4% tax on your Health Insurance Premiums not too gently betrayed that promise.
Consider that government spending in Maine is growing at more than twice the rate of inflation.

The Republican position during the last session of the Legislature was that we need "Spending Reform" and the end result would be tax relief.

The Budget Spending Cap was a simple and sound solution that would have quickly solved the problem. It was proposed, but the majority party labeled it unworkable and arrogantly rejected it outright.

The first step would provide immediate relief by eliminating tax on families making less than $28,000 per year.

Since statutes enacted by one session of the Legislature are not binding to the next one, the Budget Spending Cap was designed to be enacted as a Constitutional Amendment, which would have real permanence. It would have put forth two questions to the voters that would:

1. Approve a Constitutional Amendment that will limit state spending to the rate of growth of the population plus inflation.

2. Approve a Constitutional Amendment that would require a 2/3 vote of the Legislature to raise fees or taxes.

A similar proposal called TABOR, the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, will be displayed at the polls on November 2nd and is seeking signatures. The details can be viewed at taxpayerbillofrights.com

Specific Cuts…The cuts never proposed by government, are the ones that desperately need to be made…bureaucrats. Instead they make cuts to field
level positions or essential services utilized by the public.

Most departments are top-heavy with nameless unelected chair warmers who may have little or no productive function but consume millions of dollars of taxpayer money in salary and benefits. In fact, the bulk of the state budget is nothing more than salaries and benefits.

I'm sure many of these, often 6-figure positions, are nothing more than political appointments, rewarding activists with "jobs" funded by taxpayer money.

The State Budget can be viewed as a three piece pie chart. One third is consumed by the DHS, one third goes to the Department of Education, and the remaining third is for EVERYTHING ELSE.

During the last round of "budget cuts" after much wrangling and temporary fixes, the billion-dollar deficit is back. After the smoke cleared, only 50 state jobs were lost out of 15,000, mostly from the "everything else" sector, the bureaucrats lost no sleep.

Make the cuts where the most money is being spent.

3. Gray Corner is termed by the DOT as a Level F: Failed intersection. Its daily snarls and constant accidents are a public safety concern. In addition, the inhibited traffic mobility affects business, commuters, and tourist perceptions of Southern Maine.

What ideas do you have to help the region in and around Gray that is so affected by this horrendous traffic situation?

Leighton: The Gray Corners intersection has become one of the worst intersections in Southern Maine - the confluence of five state routes and a turnpike exit mean that over twenty thousand vehicles a day jam into the corners. The true solution to this problem would be to move the turnpike exit so that exiting cars would be deposited on Rt 26 instead of into Gray Corners.

This would not only relieve the problem at Gray Corners but would also stop the heavy traffic that is using Rt. 100 to bypass the Auburn toll. Although the Turnpike Authority feels that this is too costly a solution, I would urge them to give this further consideration. A less expensive (and less effective) solution would be the construction of a bypass route that will take cars from the Gray turnpike exit and route them onto Rt. 26. Since this seems to be the only path available at this point I would push hard to move ahead with this a quickly as possible, establishing a construction timeline that would be adhered to.

Vaughan: The Gray toll plaza is the source of the problem, traffic exits at Gray in order to avoid paying.

In addition to the traffic jams in Gray, the same toll has had the net result of increasing heavy truck traffic through New Gloucester creating both a safety problem and significantly shortening the life of the road surface of Lewiston Road.

The toll facility needs to be either relocated or closed.