33 #3 913201: .43 is: {?423ng bkwwuseiimag 3n Eggs?. 0? 3g .meQ [Gum?s \ddhsTOWN OF CUMBERLAND, MAINE 290 Tuttle Road Cumberland, Maine 04021 Telephone (207) 829-5559 Fax (207) 829-2214 July 29, 2015 The Honorable Representative Mike Timmons: 140 Bruce Hill Road Cumberland, ME 04021 Dear Mike, Thank you for attending the Cumberland Town Council meeting last evening and your offer to host a future meeting with Governor LePage. I polled the Town Council today and none of us believe that any further discussion is warranted. We feel that the Governor has a busy enough schedule and this issue does not need to be added to his plate. We all appreciate your willingness to hear our concerns, criticisms and frustrations around the LMF funding. As you and Senator Breen both stated, it looks like nothing around the LMF bonds will resurface again until January. Thank you for your service and we look forward to seeing you at future meetings and around Town. Respectfully, Peter Bin am Sr., Chairman Cumberland Town Council DiSTATE HO STATED MAI 04-3 [3 3 4300 .1 Paul R. |..oPage ?lm?s-?El? ii ON 28??.3531 {Voice} August 5, 2015 LMF bonds benefit rich organizations as poor Mainers struggle to beat their homes As Governor, I represent the best interests of all the Maine people, which includes the rich and the poor, not just wealthy special interests. As I have stated repeatedly, I am not opposed to the Land for Maine?s Future Program. Since I have taken of?ce, $5 .7 million has been allocated to LMF projects. - - But I object to wealthy special interest groups who would rather take more land off the tax rolls than help the neediest Mainers stay warm in the winter. - Tim Glidden, president of Maine Coast Heritage Trust, criticized me in a MCHT newsletter for net releasing LMF bonds, claiming l'was ??aunting the will of Maine voters.? However, he failed to inform the Maine voters that MCI-1T has over $160 million in net assets, including a $40 million endowment and over $80 million in land and buildings, and MCHT spends $7 million annually to operate their land trust. By comparison, 400 towns in Maine each spend less than $7 million a year to provide all local services, excluding education. When I talk about LMF bonds bene?ting rich organizations while poor Mainers are struggling to heat their homes during bitter cold winters, MCHT comes to mind. It?s about priorities. I want to help low?income Mainers stay warm; they want to take more land off the tax rolls. 1 had simply prOposed legislation that would provide $5 million to Mainers from the annual timber harvest on public lands; The money would be transferred from the Public Reserved Lands Management Fund to Ef?ciency Maine Trust, which would then provide assistance to needy Mainers to upgrade their heating systems to more affordable and efficient systems. Many of our low?income Mainers and those on ?xed incomes, such as senior citizens and the elderly, cannot afford to upgrade their costly, inef?cient heating systems. They should not have to lower their thermostats and suffer in the cold because they cannot afford to heat their homes. Glidden called my proposal to help the needy an attempt to ?extort? legislators to increase logging on public lands and to ?raid? the public land trust fund. He neglected to mention there is already $8 million in the Public Reserved Lands Management Fund from the annual timber harvest 011 public lands and that LMF has over $2 million cash on hand. In short, money is available right now to fund LMF projects and to help needy Mainers heat their homes. Furthermore, if we do not increase the timber harvest, we are placing our forests at {snugfth: greater risk of insect and disease outbreaks, as happened in the 1970s and ?805. We are on the verge of another budworrn epidemic in our forest in the next few years. Six million acres of forests in Maine are threatened by some level of defoliation, reduced growth and mortality. Much of that acreage is dominated by highly vulnerable balsam ?r and white spruce. - This infestation will kill standing timber before LMF projects are ready for funding. We can shorten its devastation with the increased timber harvest. Glidden also glosses over the fact that of the 30 LMF projects awaiting funding, only two are ready to go. The other 28 are not ready to move forward. There is no urgency to fund these projects. However, winter comes around quickly in Maine. There is an urgent need to help poor Mainers heat their homes before the cold weather starts. To allow time to release LMF funding, I submitted a bill to extend authorization of the bonds until June 30, 2016. The Legislature killed this proposal. They have no appetite for compromise on issues involving the Executive Branch. They would rather see needy Mainers freezing in their homes this winter than wait a couple months to discuss taking more land off the tax rolls. Removing private land from the tax rolls and buying it for conservation also harms needy Mainers. This puts upward pressure on local taxpayers, who are not given a chance to vote on supporting these projects, but whose taxes must increase to make up for the loss of property taxes on non-taxable conservation land. This increases the local property tax burden on needy Mainers who can least afford it. Furthermore, ?bond? is a just another word for ?loan.? Like a loan, a bond must be paid back. Who has to pay it back? The Maine taxpayer. Bonds unfairly burden the needy Mainers who can least afford to pay increased taxes to the state. Again, I do believe there is a need for land conservation, and I do believe bonds are necessary for programs or services that truly bene?t the public good, such as improving our transportation infrastructure. We all agree we must be vigilant stewards of Maine?s natural resources, and we all believe we should protect habitat for deer, trout, shellfish, birds and other wildlife. But we must protect our less fortunate neighbors who truly need our assistance. The State of Maine now owns 800,000 acres of public land, and my administration has already funded millions of dollars for LMF projects. We have plenty of time to talk about conserving more land. But for those Mainers who are dreading another cold winter, time is about to run out. They need our help, and they need it now. Liberals continually accuse me of providing ?tax breaks for the rich? at the expense of the poor. If they are so concerned for the poor, now is the time to prove it. 13"" Governor . iiAMEND 1 Pain R. LoPag-a (arr-iHuston August 13, 2015 Peter Bingham Sr., Chairman Cumberland Town Council 290 Tuttle Road Cumberland, 04021 Dear Mr. Chairman, Please see the attached letter, which I wrote to the president of Maine Coast Heritage Trust, explaining my position on the bonds. The Cumberland Town Council, town manager and particularly State Senator Cathy Breen have been excoriating State Representative Mike Timmons for not supporting a politically motivated bill that would have stripped the Chief Executive of the State of Maine of the authority to issue bonds. I Your anger is misdirected. Rep. Timmons supported an extension of the authority to release LMF bonds so the Legislature could consider helping poor Mainers heat their homes, but Senator Breen voted against it. She?not Rep. Timm'onsmkilled the Opportunity to issue the bonds. This was not about one project in Cumberland or North Yarrnouth. It was about rewarding rich organizations with wealthy donors and big corporate benefactors while poor and low-income Mainers were struggling to stay warm in their homes during long, cold winters. Rep. Timmons demonstrated concern not just for his constituents, but also for 1.3 million Mainers. He favored a solution that would both help poor Mainers to heat their homes and save the LMF bonds. That?s true leadership for the people of Maine. Senator Breen would not have that conversation. She wanted to reward her wealthy friends at the expense of poor Mainers. Now she is blaming Rep. Timmons and me, even though 'she had the opportunity to make sure the bonds were released while showing compassion for poor Mainers. While Rep. Timmons was working diligently for the Maine people, Senator Breen was playing politics in Augusta. She and her liberal allies are more interested in finding ways to take away authority from single person?than helping thousands of poor and low-income Mainers, including senior citizens on ?xed incomes. 5% RFC-3117.1 li'Ai?Jl?ili . PliCleir 2.8??353} (Voice) TTY ?3,113.11) T11 FAX: w. a i . it?s like will continue ?ghting to help our less fortunate Mainers stay warm this winter. Sincerely, Paul R. LePage Governor cc: Senator Cathy Breen Rep. Mike Timmons Town Manager Bill Shane The Forecaster