After hearing a presentation on the Maine Land Bank proposal I think there needs to be a very close look taken to it. At first it sounds pretty good when you hear that the program will help people hang on to their homes in the community where they were born and pass them on to their children. What I have a problem with is that this proposal would allow people who are nonresidents also to be in this program. To give tax relief for someone who is trying to hang on to the only home they have is one thing, but to give a tax break to someone who can afford the luxury of a second or third home just doesn’t seem right. The Maine Land Bank proposal folks see their communities threatened by rising property assessments based on escalating land sales that result in increased property [taxes]. Well, on Vinalhaven, it is the people from away who buy their second or third homes at outrageous prices. So why would you reward the people causing the problem [with] a tax break? Also, why would someone who can afford the luxury of a second or third home feel that a person who can afford only one home should pay part of their luxury home’s tax bill? Any time you give someone a tax break someone else in town has to pay for it. On Vinalhaven we get hit by the state’s Tree Growth program – it’s all lost revenue with no reimbursement from the state. Currently six year-round residents or groups and 31 seasonal residents or groups are in the Tree Growth program. The year round number is split evenly between native and from away. So at least on Vinalhaven it’s those from away who can afford the luxury of a second or third home that get the biggest benefit of the Tree Growth program. I am afraid the same thing will happen with the Maine Land Bank unless it becomes a homestead type program for those that are year round residents trying to hang on to their only home.
Eric N. Davis
Vinalhaven