Edgecomb selectmen differed March 18 in their views of Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed cuts to local funding.

Board member Stuart Smith defended the proposal as the governor’s attempt to get legislators to find cuts elsewhere. “He’s trying to get them to do something. Hopefully, they’ll give on some items, and we’ll get revenue sharing back,” he said.

LePage doesn’t want revenue sharing to go away, and neither does he, Smith said.

But Selectman Jack Sarmanian said property taxpayers could wind up the losers in the LePage proposal.

“I believe the governor’s holding people hostage, at this point,” Sarmanian said. “Both parties should say, ‘You can’t shift the taxes.’”

The discussion arose during the board’s meeting with the town’s budget committee. Unless the uncertainty in Augusta is resolved soon, selectmen said the budget should be approached as if the funding isn’t coming.

“I would rather plan for the worst and hope for the best, than to plan for it being there and have it not be, Selectmen’s Chairman Jessica Chubbuck said.

Revenue sharing amounts to about $51,000 a year in Edgecomb, Smith said. Additional state aid of about $30,000 to help maintain roads appears safe, he said after checking into it March 19.

Smith and fellow selectmen urged residents to make their own opinions known to legislators. “We have to go to our representatives and senators and say, ‘Give us revenue sharing back. Make cuts elsewhere,’” Smith said.

“If not, your property taxes are going to go up,” Chubbuck said.

At a recent Legislative budget hearing Sarmanian and Chubbuck attended, speakers were mostly supporting a sales tax as an alternative to cutting towns’ funding, Sarmanian said. That would avoid adding to property owners’ burden, he said.

Smith said he submitted written testimony for the hearing.

Susan Johns can be reached at 207-844-4633 or sjohns@wiscassetnewspaper.com.