1B Attorney Requests Maine TV Stations Pull Erroneous 1A Ads

Letter Faxed to TVs Thursday Night Says Two Major Facts are Wrong in the 60-second 1A Ads

AUGUSTA --- Campaign officials with Mainers for Real and Responsible Property Tax Relief have asked Maine television stations to stop broadcasting an advertisement paid for by proponents of Question 1A on the November referendum ballot.

Dana Connors, Chairman of Mainers for Real and Responsible Property Tax Relief, said a 60- second advertisement falsely claims that Question 1A would result in Òa 15% reduction in property tax statewideÓ.

There is no language in the underlying legislation (LD 1372) that would require Maine cities and towns to lower property taxes.

In addition, The Bangor Daily News in story published yesterday (Sept. 25), reported that Dana Lee, spokesman for Question 1A, Òacknowledged that Question 1A did not compel municipalities to use the additional funds they would receive to reduce local property taxes for taxpayers.Ó

The 1B campaign says that is the key reason the ads are deceptive and should be pulled.

Connors said, Ã’By their own statements, the proponents of Question 1A have admitted that their proposal does not require a 15% reduction in property tax statewide. Question 1A forces the state to immediately come up with an additional $246 million ($245.5, as of Aug. 25, 2003) a year to fund 55% of local education, but there is absolutely no legal requirement that even one penny of those extra funds will be used by local governments for property tax relief. Maine homeowners will quickly realize that this claim of a 15% statewide cut in property taxes is false. There is simply no provision in Question 1A to assure that homeowners will get the relief they deserve."

Connors added "In contrast, Question 1B, which is the wiser approach - and choice - for Maine voters on Nov. 4, mandates direct property tax relief by expanding the Circuit Breaker program for low to moderate income homeowners and extending the Homestead Exemption which will help every Maine homeowner.Ó

Question 1A also inaccurately claims the cost of Question 1A is $264 million. The correct amount is $246 million (rounded up to the nearest million). Connors noted that Question 1A proponents were using a report by the Office Fiscal and Program Review (OFPR) of the Maine Legislature, which is several months old and out of date. The current fiscal note, published by OFPR in late August is $246 million ($245,465,487), $18 million less than claimed by Question 1A proponents.

In a letter faxed yesterday to broadcast station managers (full text attached below), John Delahanty, legal counsel to Mainers for Real and Responsible Property Tax Relief, requested that the ad be removed from the airwaves. Delahanty wrote:


á The $264 million dollar question. The ad claims passage of Question 1A will result in $264 million dollars in property tax relief. This number is totally inaccurate. This past spring, the LegislatureÕs Office of Fiscal and Program Review estimated that passage of Question 1A would result in a cost to the State of $264 million dollars. The most recent analysis by this Office, finalized on September 3, 2003 but well known and well circulated during the LegislatureÕs Special Session in August, estimated that the additional cost to State taxpayers, should 1A pass, would be almost $246 million for FY '04-'05, a difference of $18 million. (See attachment A, page 3, bottom block for estimated cost.) Eighteen million dollars is not chump change. This ad should immediately be corrected to utilize the revised figure of $246 million, a figure available to Citizens. This amount must be used to assure taxpayers and voters are not mislead through the use of a totally incorrect figure.

á The 15% reduction. The ad claims that adopting 1A will result in Òa 15% reduction in property tax statewideÓ and a Ò15% property tax cut statewide next year.Ó This is simply a claim that Citizens cannot back-up. To suggest that a 15% reduction in property taxes statewide will occur if 1A is adopted is an egregious example of deception. There is nothing in the law proposed to be adopted via 1A that suggests that there will be any property tax relief whatsoever. There is absolutely no basis in the legislation, or otherwise, for proponents of 1A to assert that there will be a Ò15% property tax cut statewide next year.Ó

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COPY of FULL TEXT of LETTER faxed to all Maine TV stations yesterday:


September 25, 2003

[To: Station Managers]

Re: Objection to Question 1A Ad

We represent Mainers for Real and Responsible Property Tax Relief (ÒMainersÓ), the political action committee formed for the purpose of supporting passage of Question 1B on the November 4, 2003 ballot, which proposes to reduce the cost of local government through increased State education funding and provide property tax relief (Òthe Competing MeasureÓ), and to oppose Question 1A proposed by the political action committee known as Citizens to Reduce Local Property Taxes Statewide (ÒCitizensÓ).

We understand that Citizens is running an ad on your station claiming, among other things, that if itsÕ proposal, Question 1A, is passed by the voters, it Òmeans $264 million dollars in property tax relief, a 15% reduction in property tax statewide.Ó References to the $264 million in property tax relief and a 15% property tax cut statewide also appear as onscreen graphics. These statements are patently and demonstrably false. Rather than serving the public interest by creating informed, meaningful debate through the dissemination of accurate information, the ad instead distorts the debate in an apparent attempt to deceive and mislead rather than educate Maine voters. Because the ad is false and deceptive on such fundamental points, as discussed below, Mainers for Real and Responsible Property Tax Relief respectively request that you immediately pull and thereby refrain from further broadcasting this ad.

Under the FCCÕs public interest standard, it is against public policy to air false or misleading statements ö even if they are contained in political advertisements. To air false or misleading statements is a disservice to the community. Pursuant to FCC licenses and their own ethical codes of practice, stations have an obligation to determine that the statements in political (non-candidate) ads are not false or misleading. The ad in question cannot satisfy this most basic test. The following claims made by Citizens in this ad are patently and irrefutably false.

á The $264 million dollar question. The ad claims passage of Question 1A will result in $264 million dollars in property tax relief. This number is totally inaccurate. This past spring, the LegislatureÕs Office of Fiscal and Program Review estimated that passage of Question 1A would result in a cost to the State of $264 million dollars. The most recent analysis by this Office, finalized on September 3, 2003 but well known and well circulated during the LegislatureÕs Special Session in August, estimated that the additional cost to State taxpayers, should 1A pass, would be almost $246 million for FY '04-'05, a difference of $18 million. (See attachment A, page 3, bottom block for estimated cost.) Eighteen million dollars is not chump change. This ad should immediately be corrected to utilize the revised figure of $246 million, a figure available to Citizens. This amount must be used to assure taxpayers and voters are not mislead through the use of a totally incorrect figure.

á The 15% reduction. The ad claims that adopting 1A will result in Òa 15% reduction in property tax statewideÓ and a Ò15% property tax cut statewide next year.Ó This is simply a claim that Citizens cannot back-up. To suggest that a 15% reduction in property taxes statewide will occur if 1A is adopted is an egregious example of deception. There is nothing in the law proposed to be adopted via 1A that suggests that there will be any property tax relief whatsoever. There is absolutely no basis in the legislation, or otherwise, for proponents of 1A to assert that there will be a Ò15% property tax cut statewide next year.Ó

In fact, there is no guarantee of any property tax cuts contained in the proponents legislation. In an article appearing in the Bangor Daily News for Thursday, September 25, 2003, (see attachment B) it is reported that Dana Lee, a Vice President of the Maine Municipal Association, and President of Citizens, acknowledged Wednesday that Òdespite assertions by proponents ö there is nothing in the legislation behind Question 1A that guarantees a reduction in property taxes.Ó The article further reports that ÒLee also acknowledged that Question 1A does not compel municipalities to use the additional funds they would receive to reduce local property taxes for taxpayers.Ó He is then quoted as stating: Ò[T]here is no mandate that says . . . any specific amount would be returned to the taxpayers, but I assure you there is a very heartfelt desire on our part to see that it gets back to people.Ó A Òheartfelt desireÓ cannot and must not be used as grounds to allow Citizens to assert that adoption of Question 1A will result in a 15% reduction in property tax statewide. The adÕs suggestion that there will be statewide property tax reduction is nothing more than deceptive and misleading.

Mainers expect ö indeed encourage ö meaningful debate of the issues surrounding this important referendum vote. We are engaged in an exercise in direct democracy. You and your station are now confronted with the fact that the first ad run in this campaign by Citizens is founded on irrefutably false statements, the publication of which does not further meaningful debate and is not in the public interest.

If after reviewing this letter you determine to continue to run the ad in its present form, we request an immediate opportunity to discuss this further in person.

On behalf of Mainers for Real and Responsible Property Tax Relief, we thank you in advance for your careful consideration of this important matter.

Sincerely yours,

John D. Delahanty
Counsel for Mainers for Real and Responsible Property Tax Relief

JDD/snh

cc: Dana Connors, Mainers for Real and Responsible Property Tax