Officials ask bond approval

AUGUSTA

Mayors, school leaders and others who would benefit from the $150 million worth of bonds on Maine’s ballot Tuesday have made their case for why residents should vote “yes.” But the biggest hurdle to the bonds’ passage likely isn’t convincing voters of their merit but getting them to show up at the polls at all.

Five state borrowing proposals, which would fund maintenance and improvement projects for roads and bridges, school facilities and armories, are the only measures on the statewide November ballot. That could mean especially low voter turnout, which may play a big role in whether the bonds get approved, said Maria Fuentes, executive director of the Maine Better Transportation Association.

“Everyone you talk to knows a road or a bridge that they think needs work,” she said. “People understand it’s important. We just hope the people who feel that way go to the polls.”

Voters will be asked whether they support a $100 million proposal for transportation projects, including $44 million for highways, $27 million for bridge reconstruction and rehabilitation and $24 million for things like rails and ports.

Declining revenues from the state’s fuel tax coupled with a federal gas tax that hasn’t increased since 1993 have meant increasingly tight budgets for fixing roads and bridges, she said.

“The cost of construction in Maine has gone up significantly, but we’re still at the same funding level we were 20 years ago,” she said.

The bond package came out of a political battle in the state House over how much the state should borrow and when. Republican Gov. Paul LePage, who generally opposes mounting more debt onto the state’s books, pushed to get the transportation bond before voters in November, while Democrats wanted to wait until June to craft a larger borrowing package that included funding for research and development.

Democrats and LePage eventually agreed to put the transportation bond before voters in November in addition to a $15.5 million bond to renovate labs and classrooms for science, technology, engineering and math programs at Maine’s universities. An additional $4.5 million bond would go to build a new science facility at the Maine Maritime Academy in Castine.

Meanwhile, another group hoping voters turn out in large numbers is the Army National Guard. It’s supporting a $14 million bond to repair its buildings and buy critically needed items like fire alarms, sprinkler systems and lighting systems.

Meanwhile, Maine’s community colleges, which officials say are plagued with overcrowding as demand has skyrocketed, are also eager to see whether voters approve a $15.5 million bond to expand and renovate their buildings and classrooms.

“We need it, frankly, because we’re bursting at the seams,” said Chris Hall, interim president of York County Community College in Wells.

The student population of 2,000 is about double the capacity meant for the school’s single academic building, Hall said. If the bond is approved, the school would get $3.4 million for a new building with nine new classrooms, an auditorium and independent study space, he said.

The new building would be the first step toward hopefully expanding their student population, he said. “There’s capacity to grow our student numbers 50 percent over five years if we have the physical space and the faculty to teach,” Hall said.

But the bonds are by no means a done deal. Maine residents rejected $11.3 million worth of bonds for capital improvements for universities and community colleges just last year.

Mark Brewer, political science professor at the University of Maine, said none of the bond issues are particularly high profile or controversial and spending on campaigns to educate voters on their impact has been low, which could affect how many residents make it to the polls Tuesday.

“You still have to make the case for all of these bonds to voters — in an era where fiscal responsibility is a concern — for why we have to spend this money,” he said.

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