Among next week’s high-profile elections and referenda, Cumberland County voters will decide whether the county government will have its own charter.

The proposal’s supporters say that a charter would enable the county government to become more efficient, regionalize more government functions that now are handled by municipalities, and eliminate some redundant elective offices, like county treasurer.

Opponents worry that a charter would give county government too much latitude in spending money, which would lead to higher property taxes.

Proponents of a greater role for county government tried unsuccessfully to adopt a charter in 2004.

Two years ago, voters elected a charter commission, which produced the proposal on this year’s ballot.

“I personally believe there are tremendous possibilities for getting more value out of county government, a broader range of more relevant services, and I believe it can be done less expensively,” said Claude Morgan, chairman of the commission.

The charter would expand the number of county commissioners from three to five and eliminate the county treasurer and register of deeds, while retaining other elective county positions.

Morgan said a charter also would give critics of county government the ability to change it by referendum, which is not currently allowed.

The charter would require county commissioners to explain, in writing, any changes they make to the budget advisory committee’s recommendations.

Also, Morgan said, the county would be able to use its strong bond rating to cut borrowing costs for regional projects and for individual municipal projects, which could be lumped in with borrowing for county projects.

Such borrowing worries Jill Duson, a Portland city councilor. Duson wrote a guest column for The Portland Press Herald explaining her opposition to the charter proposal.

The county now can bond no more than $10,000 without a countywide vote.

The charter would create a formula under which the county could borrow the equivalent of 0.01 percent of its total property valuation without a referendum.

Talking points distributed by Assistant County Manager William Whitten said, with the current valuation, that would mean a limit of about $1 million.

State figures, however, show that the cap would be $4.2 million.

Duson said a simple majority of commissioners would be able to borrow that much each year, potentially adding hundreds of thousands of dollars to Portland’s share of county taxes.

County Commissioner James Cloutier, a former Portland city councilor, said the proposal is a good idea because it would allow for more effective regional services.

He said he doesn’t believe that authorizing county commissioners to borrow money means they automatically will.

 

Staff Writer David Hench can be contacted at 791-6327 or at: dhench@pressherald.com

 

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