Turn the faucet, and fresh water flows out. It’s automatic, right?
Not if there’s no money to perform essential upgrades and required maintenance on public drinking and wastewater systems in Maine, some of which have pipes and components that have been in use for more than a century.
“We use these systems every single day,” said Thomas Brennan, chairman of the Maine Public Drinking Water Commission. “Our communities and economies require this infrastructure. Whether we like it or not, the systems need to be maintained.”
One clear way to ensure that adequate funding is available for work that protects the safety of Maine’s drinking water is to vote yes on state ballot Question 5. The bond question asks voters to authorize borrowing $7.925 million, which would be used over two years as a state match for $39,625 million in federal funds. A little more than $3.5 million of the Question 5 bond money would go to drinking water facilities, with the balance earmarked for anti-pollution measures and wastewater treatment system upgrades.
Passage of Question 5 would yield a 5-to-1 return in federal dollars on Maine’s expenditure to replenish the Drinking Water State Revolving Loan Fund, which was established in 1997 as a financing tool to minimize the impact on ratepayers of public water system capital projects, and a similar Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund created in 1987 for wastewater treatment.
Bangor, Portland, Camden, Rockland, Hampden, Eastport, Presque Isle, Bucksport, Caribou and Calais are among the communities in line this year to receive assistance from the drinking water revolving loan fund.
Projects in Eastport, St. Agatha, Mechanic Falls, Fairfield, Sanford, Wiscasset, Pittsfield, Brunswick, Castine, Limestone and Oxford are on this year’s list for the Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund.
Ensuring the safety of public drinking water constitutes one of the basic responsibilities of government. The revolving loan programs make it possible for those entrusted to safeguard Maine’s drinking water supplies to undertake necessary but expensive projects with minimal impact on ratepayers.
Access to the revolving loan programs makes it possible for municipalities and water districts to plan major maintenance work and avoid delays that increase the risk of service disruption or system failures requiring expensive, emergency repairs.
Question 5 serves not only as a bridge to a more sustainable environment but to a funding mechanism that aims to avoid reliance on general obligation bonds in the future. In 2011, the Legislature approved a proposal spearheaded by Rep. Patrick Flood, R-Winthrop, to tap revenue from the state’s wholesale liquor contract to pay the state match for federal water system improvement funding between 2014 and 2023.
Approval of Question 5 represents a high-yield investment for 2012 and 2013, before the new state match revenue stream opens in 2014. Because the federal funds require a state match, rejecting Question 5 would be tantamount to, well, flushing almost $40 million down the drain.
The benefits extend beyond the kitchen sink. Better wastewater treatment will reduce the likelihood that upriver wastewater discharges will force shellfish flat closures at the mouths of Maine rivers, another positive economic offshoot of projects funded by the Clean Water Revolving Loan Fund. And those projects create jobs for contractors, engineers and construction workers.
“A strategic approach to maintaining our infrastructure is good for business,” Brennan said. “It all goes to ensuring that when you turn on your tap, you can count on good clean water.”
Voting yes on Question 5 will extend that assurance to more Maine people.
The 5-1 match is irrelevant to me as we are paying for it one way or the other anyway, Federal or State.
Wait…I thought if it was Federal money, it was Free. Buzzkill.
So the state wants to borrow 7.9 million, so the federal government will borrow an additional 39 million?
If I vote no am I helping cut spending in Washington? I am on well/septic, let the affected municipalities figure it out without the federal government stepping in.
Absolutely. And if your friends a few miles away get city/town water, and that water system can’t be upgraded because no one wanted to pay taxes to do it, you simply carry along a little Coleman stove wherever you go, and a pot to boil their water in. Thirty minutes ought to do it, plus time for it to cool enough to drink.
It is a city issue, and should be solved at the city level. Not the state. Not the Federal. I am not opposed to them fixing their water issue, but why are those who not using the services picking up a majority of the tab. The money has to come from somewhere, and the federal matching funds are just added to the deficit. By using state and federal funds you are fixing a small problem, but worsening the largest problem our country as a whole faces, out of control spending and debt.
12 years ago, 2000, national debt of $5.6 trillion. Approx $20,000 per citizen.
4 years ago, 2008, national debt of $10.4 trillion. Approx $34,100 per citizen. Eight years.
Today, 2012, national debt of $16.2 trillion. Approx $51, 500 per citizen. Four years.
If you have city water, you should pay to upgrade it. That is the way the world is supposed to work.
How do you get money out of people if they don’t have it its very easy for people to say let them pay for it . So along that line lets do away with all subsidizes why should my tax dollars go to businesses if i don’t use there produce let the people pay more for that product they use. I can see people paying 9 dollars for a gallon of mile
In some municipalities there water is terrible anyway. Calais comes to mind. A few years back they were forced to stop getting their water from Saint Stephen N. B.. They decided to make some local land owners more money by buying their land to drill wells to supply the town. The water tastes like crap now. They could have run a pipeline from Baileyville that has one of the best tasting water aquifers in the state, but I guess that didn’t make enough money for someone.
Vote no on more bonds/taxes
Have you stopped to think what will happen if Maine doesn’t get the money to perform maintenance on the water and wastewater infrastructure ? No, I didn’t think you had.
If there truly is a need then let the people who actually live in these towns vote to raise their own taxes to pay for it. We need less communal government.
Because little townspeople have always built great nations?
You have precisely proven my point. No one is talking about a project to benefit the entire nation. We are talking about a small projects in small towns that only effect themselves. If they want it, they can pay for it.
Great nations are built by a great many people all working in unison for great causes/events/projects. Those who work on their own have historically been left in the dust. You’re ” point” is looking a little worn, weary and dusty.
Actually is was your communal form of government that was left on the ash heap of history.
Tell that to OUR creditor (CHINA) Bubba.
In some ways, China is more capitalistic than America. The may call themselves communists but it’s nothing like Lenin would ever recognize. China is probably closer to a plutocracy these days.
Our esteemed Capitalists have evolved into 3rd world slash and burn farmers. They seem to have reaped all that they want from this country. It is cheaper to go to another country and not have to maintain the farm they grew up on.
Maybe, and then maybe westerners just don’t understand their long range goals.
You are right comrade StillRelaxin. All Great Nations must have a great many people, all suffering in unison for the great cause. How many people were “road bumps” on the path to Glory for Soviet Russia? So many people claim communism works, or is great, but then why do people flee from it? East Germany, Cuba, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China. These are all places were people cut all ties and run for their lives. How many people defect to, or run to these countries from Capitalism? Where do the brightest college students from China attend university? The U.S. Why? If communism was so grand, would they not be able to have good universities?
China is our largest creditor, however, they can print their own money, and use it to buy our debt. And last time I checked, instead of buying our debt, they could be investing in their own country, like you seem to profess we should.
It is very simple. Water bills in these cities have been too low. The federal matching funds are not “free” money. If my well/septic needs to be “maintained” no federal/state money is going to help me, so why should my tax dollars help these cities? And even better, why should people in Alaska, Hawaii, Alabama, Nebraska, and the other states pay more in taxes to fix OUR problem?
It is not like this was an all of a sudden problem. It has been a long time in the making. The cities have been postponing these issues, problems, and now see a way out by passing the buck.
Oh the greatness of working with Red China, Iraq and Afghanistan. I feel much a “greater” nation would have stayed OUT of World War one. That would have eliminated the need for World War Two.
We are all in this together. One Nation.
You are deluded!
an if you go on there roads you pay them a fee
In fact, in a truly independent world, every homeowner and business owner should rebuild (or not) the road directly in front of his/her property. None of this communistic (socialistic?) silliness of American citizens joining together for the common good.
And if someone wants the unpaved road in front of my house to be paved, then that someone can pave it. Of course, no roads will ever get paved as we all wait for someone else to do it.
In case you haven’t noticed Liz it is long past the time when the automobile did the common good.
so if they had to do that how many people would move out of town so they would not half to pay ?
There is only so much money, just like in your household budget. And last I checked we are using our charge card more than ever, and have maxed it. Figure out a way to pay for it, and by all means, “maintain/fix” the water systems.
We have added more debt in the last four years than from 1776 to 2000. And you want to add to that, rather than pay for it. Have the city government raise the water rates, or pass a local tax to fix their local problem. You do not use a sledgehammer on a knat, and you do not fix Bangor or Portland, or Augusta’s water/sewage with FEDERAL tax dollars.
Do you really believe that if this is not passed we are all going to have bad water, and the sewage systems will not work? That is scare tactics 1o1.
Learn to say no. Government asks for money all the time. The more you say yes, the more they will ask, until you are left with nothing.
Hey!
We wouldn’t be adding to the debt if these cheapskates would just stop the whining about their Taxes and just pay for what we bought now would we!
Can you Imagine Standing behind one of these Tea Partiers in line at the grocery store as he complains to the store manager about his food bill expecting them to give him a break because he is the turd creator?
ok but if you drive the roads you will half to pay a fee to drive on the roads
We do pay for our roads through highway use taxes in our fuel costs, exise tax on our cars, license fees, etc.
No tax dollars half to go into roads do a search an you will see that fuel taxes do not cover the cost of roads
You just said you do not want your taxes going for that because you do not use roads so which is it you can’t have it both ways
Huh??? You aren’t making a coherent statement or question. When did I say I don’t use roads?
But like i said people have said they do not want there taxes going to roads an i told them because they do not use them so they think they shout not have there tax dollars go for roads in other parts of the state
Why?
So some Republican Crony can sell you bottled water for $5: oo a gallon?
Like water hangs around a Town for very long!
LOL
Maybe we should devolve back to Tribes in Saudi Arabi and put armed gaurds around the wells!
Or elove a new technology where we can label water molecules and sell them on wall street as a commodity and only the most affluent can afford them.
Affluent!!
Hey! Now there is another form of water!
LOL
Have you thought about how to pay for all these bonds? No,I didn’t think so.
Highways rebuild themselves, water systems repair themselves, you will always have decent roads and clean water. No need to pay taxes to keep up the infrastructure. It’s just like when mommy and daddy took care of everything. It’s the kind of magic Tea Party onservativism is built on.
New Highways going to new places make sense for bonds. Old Highways doing road maintenance that should be part of the regular budget should not be. Otherwise why not bond issue plowing and lawn mowing?
Exactly. And if you can’t fit maintenance for the new road into your budget, your bond decision is made for you…it’s a No.
don’t forget the longer you put it off the more it will cost .
Use the taxes we already pay thats the magic.
The gas tax, the fuel tax, the weight tax on truckers, the license tax the registration tax, add to that tolls and Federal give backs and we should have enough to pay for roads WITHOUT passing bonds. Pay as you drive… that’s the key, and in case you haven’t noticed the legislature has indexed the gas tax to inflation so it can go up (not down) without them having to vote on it.
With the rise in the cost of gasoline and the advent of more efficient cars and trucks there is a reduction in revenue from highway use taxes. They are levied by the gallon, rather than dollar.
Before long as cars get better mileage you will be tax by the mile
I am well aware of how the gas tax is levied. I’m also aware that the government has upped the weight limit on tractor trailers.
My suggestion is that the State (and Feds) get the tax money from the people who are using the roads. A passenger car (particularly a light efficant one) does almost no damage to a well constructed highway. PPerhaps we need a weight tax?
Do you eat food, buy clothing, use services? Virtually everything we use today is transported at one time or another by truck. Trucks are already paying higher license fees and a higher highway use tax on the fuel they use. The higher weight limits also cuts down on the number of trucks needed to haul the products they do. A truck with 5 axles licensed for 80,000 lbs puts the same footprint of weight on the ground that a 6 axle rig licnesed at 100,000 lbs.
Ile tell you what if you had done a search before you posted you would of seen that all you mention dose not cover the cost of roads an tows an cites half to put your tax dollars into roads . I now see that people are to lazy to do searches they want other people to do what you should be doing an you would not be posting wrong information .
What I posted was correct. If the people using the roads are not paying enough, then tax them more.
Cities and towns get their money from property tax.
Aside;
Your posts are painful to read. Ask your teacher how to spell and punctuate.
My daughter is a collage grad an she said there’s nothing wrong with my post an tax them right out of there homes real bright people have a hard time meeting there needs now
Cheapskate!
Maine gets back 1.4 times as much money from the federal government as it sends to Washington. That means 70% of what the federal government spends here effectively originates here, so if we pass this bond we’ll be paying the 7.9 million added to the state budget plus 70% of the 39.6 million added to the federal budget, for a total of 35.6 million. Maybe it’s still worth it, but those federal ‘freebies’ aren’t the bargain pictured here.
Federal Freebies? The extra money comes from taxpayers in New York, Texas, California, and other places with larger populations.
Welfare is welfare.
Wasn’t this on the ballot last year? Or the year before? Or both?
yes it was these are on going projects that they keep funding. Some people have talked about a savings account, this is called capitalization and works quite well if the cost are realistic and the funds are set asside to do these projects. A lot of communittees have these programs set up to just that.
To the dissenters: like your water just as it is? Hope against hope it continues that way. Frugality is one thing. Being cheap and penny wise pound foolish is another.
Then we should be putting money asside for projects like this, not borrowing. It would be far better getting paid interest than it would be paying it. We should be voting to create accounts for future projects, not voting for loans for things.
Sounds like a neat idea. But that doesn’t fix the water pipes today – and you’re still getting taxed that amount eventually. The people pay for it up front or over time.
Do you personally save up the $20k for a new car? or do you pay out a little extra to get it now and pay it off over five years?
I don’t buy new cars because I cannot afford them. The waterpipe issue is not a new issue. It is a known figure over time what replacement costs are going to be. This money should be put aside from the day of construction. Interest alone would cover unexpected costs. It could postponed for two years while an account is built for this as nothing will immediately be done on this even if the bond issue passes. Bonds are a waste of taxpayer money and nothing more.
Do as you say an the cost keeps going up what it cost this year will not cost the same next year you know the old saying pay me now or pay me later or you can tell the water,sewer pipes not to beak .
no, it is a percentage, so it should match rising costs. also the imterest earned should alleviate other costs. do you understand finamces at all?
My water pipes are just fine. ditto my welland pump and septic system, all of which I paid for…..without help from the City of Portland, Lewiston, Augusta, or Bangor’
Try something new; pay your own bills and leave the rest of us out of your equation.
yes but every one wants cuts cuts cuts so how do you save than ?
Everyone needs good water.
Loans and bonds are what makes the state go round. More infrastructure being created and maintained and jobs.
The government does not create jobs. It destroys jobs taking money from people who earn it and giving it to others. The net result is a great big loss of jobs, money and freedom, for all us, slaves to the government.
The jobs are only temporary the debt is forever.
The debt is paid off and the jobs are still jobs.
I like my roads paved thanks.
we pay interest on that debt. that is wasted money. If we saved the money and paid cash instead of paying back loans and interest we would save millions. It is the same amount of base money whether we borrow or save. Saving we gain interest, borrowing we are throwing it out the window. Your logic is flawed.
That interest doesn’t evaporate. It goes to companies and organizations and governments that use it on other projects and jobs.
Borrow $10
Payback $15
$5 profit for the lender who can then use that to create another job or two over the years
That interest is wasted state money. The state should be using it for funding their own projects.
The Chinese, Indians, Indonisians, and Russians will thank you for your generosity. They are the ones buying our debt.
Sell out to them for smoother roads if you will, not me.
Ok let every town save money for there projects . now let start how long would it take towns ancities now while you are saving the money the roads keep getting worse to the point that when you do have the money you need to tear the whole road up an start from scratch.
The problem with Maine is that we have entirely too many roads and streets that were never properly built in the first place. Which is the reason that they are constantly being given bandaides of 1″ asphalt.
The towns people wanted it done for the a cheap price an this is what you get so blame the town people
no, that isn’t how it works.
If we set aside money for the future there would always be a new politician come along and find an emergency need to dip into those funds. Or they will cut taxes to gain votes and the fund will dry up.
were do you think the interest comes from on your saving accounts or the bonds you have . I was going to buy maine bonds but i did not because the rate of interest was like 2% at that time i got other bonds that were all 5% or more
Fed. money is till tax payers money. Why do people say federal money like it’s free or something? Why would I want to pay for, lets say Portland water, when I live half way across the state? That’s a community issue not a state issue.
The reality is that 4o Mil is a mere drop in the bucket.
If Maine doesn’t get it , another state will, and that state will be able to improve their infrastructure and give their young men and women the jobs. Vote Yes on 5.
If its a drop in the bucket, how about you pay for it. Start an account and fund it that way. In a year or two we will be paying cash and we would still get the federal money for it without having to pay out millions in interest.
Matching funds mean Maine won’t get anything unless we contribute.
And for perspective, you can’t run the Pentagon for an hour for 40 Mil.
The point is: where are the Feds getting their money these days? OOh, that’s right they borrow it from thired-world dirt countries and pay them back ten-fold.
I’ll be happy to vote for infrstructure improvements when they are funded by honest income, not by the slight-of-hand tricks used by this administration and the three previous ones.
Many of us are not on public water systems. Why should we be made to pay for upgrades to systems we don’t even have access to or might be in another part of the state? The water systems should be self supporting by their users. Let them fund the bonds.
Because this is what people do in a civilized society. It’s not “every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost” in America. It’s working together for the common good.
If you manage to derail this and similar bonds, you could wind up having to carry water purification tablets everywhere you go if people in communities you visit only now and then haven’t bothered to bring their water systems up to snuff. You would never know where you could trust the drinking water and where you couldn’t.
In the spirit of “working together for the common good”, the next time my well pump (or other readers with wells) needs to be replaced can we count on you to help pay for it?
If the failure of private wells became widespread in Maine, for example as a result of global climate change, I’d likely support an initiative to help homeowners pay for necessary repairs and adaptations.
Well pumps seem to fail about every 10 years or so based on my own experience, a rate most likely to increase as global warming takes effect.
I wasn’t asking for an “initiative” to pay for my well repair with someone else’s money. I was interested if I and other well owners could come to you to personally chip in for the costs for our well repairs.
And while we’re at it, I live on a private road. Can you give me a hand on the costs I’m incurring there also?
You seem to need a lesson in basic Civics, a course that was taught widely when I was growing up. What it means to be a citizen, and all that.
Your vision is restricted entirely to yourself. It’s a vision of me-Me-ME-and-only-MEEEE.
I was tongue-in-cheek testing to see if you were willing to commit any of your personal resources to the “common good” or whether you were only willing to spend the money of others.
Many of us have no children in school, why should we be forced to pay property tax to support schools.
1) You attended school (I assume), paid for by people who were taxpayers at that time. Now it’s your turn to pay for other people’s kids.
2) Your job (I assume you have one) depends on the presence of a reasonably well-educated employer and fellow employees, not to mention the existence of people who (thanks to an education) have jobs and can thus afford to buy the goods or services the place you work for produces.
3) Your daily welfare depends to a large degree on the existence of educated people who know how to do things like keep your town, and other towns and cities you visit going–public works, public safety, and so on. Possibly you wouldn’t mind driving across a bridge that was built by someone with no education, including math or physics. Most people would. Possibly you’re sure you’ll never have need for a doctor or nurse (they seem to get younger as you get older–the kids we’re putting through school now keep growing up), or you wouldn’t care if your life depending on an entirely uneducated surgeon. Most people would.
Liz, I think you missed my sarcasym of Maine26. I think because he has his own well and septic that he lives in a vacume. I have my own well and septic also, but I know all that you just said;)
Sorry! I did miss your sarcasm.
Sadly, some people do actually argue that childless people, or people with grown children shouldn’t pay property taxes that support schools.
Regardless of all the arguing , “it” all runs up hill as easy as down. So what is the best solution? Water filtering.
Why should I and many others who have septic systems pay for communities that have waste water systems to help them upgrade their systems. Will they help me if I need to upgrade my system??
When the state gives me money to repair my well or my septic system,I’ll vote yes. Until then, the people who voted to have municipal systems installed can pay to maintain them.
yada yada yada, Come have a big glassful of the yellow-coliform bacteria water supplied to Eastport by the Passamaquoddy water district.