Maine Ballot Initiative on Water Tax Fails

[Judi Lynn]

Maine Ballot Initiative on Water Tax Fails
By FRANCIS X. QUINN
Associated Press Writer

December 19, 2005, 8:05 PM EST

AUGUSTA, Maine -- An initiative aimed at taxing spring water -- a first-in-the-nation proposal that rankled Maine bottler Poland Spring -- fell short Monday of attracting enough valid signatures to be placed on the ballot.

Petitions calling for a statewide vote next November contained 49,100 valid signatures, but organizers needed at least 50,519 to guarantee a statewide vote by then.

Secretary of State Matthew Dunlap ruled Monday that about 7,100 of the 56,287 signatures that had been submitted were invalid, mostly because the signers were not registered to vote in the municipalities where their signatures were collected.

The petition drive began three months ago, led by former legislator Jim Wilfong, who said he was surprised and disappointed that the effort fell short. He said he will continue the campaign -- even if petition circulators have to start again from scratch.
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http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-water-tax,0,3714140.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines

[izzie]

1. I never saw a petition

I do have an un-happy feeling about taking all this water out. It seems to me that wells will be up set around Poland Springs. Once Maine's ice went around the world but that was surface water.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. I signed a petition earlier this fall

[high density]

2. I think $.20/gal was too much

At 500 million gallons a year, that's $100 million. I think a nickel a gallon would have been a more realistic number to aim for.

[apple_ridge]

4. Why would you consider that too much?

We wouldn't want these corporations to have to #@$ pay for natural resources would we?

They threatened to leave if the tax went through. Fine, let them go and I'd be more than happy to open up another business on the same site and live with a little less profit.