Maine Democratic Party Vice Chair Bev Uhlenhake, former mayor of Brewer, speaks Wednesday morning at a press conference in Kennedy Park in Lewiston. Lewiston mayor Carl Sheline, left, and Rep. Thom Harnett, former mayor of Gardiner, right, also spoke. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — Three current and former Democratic mayors said Wednesday that returning Republican Paul LePage to the governor’s office in the Nov. 8 general election could open the door to big cuts in revenue sharing for towns and cities that would force property taxes to soar.

During LePage’s eight years as governor, “he gutted revenue sharing and underfunded our schools,” said Democratic Mayor Carl Sheline of Lewiston.

The press conference held Wednesday in Kennedy Park brought sharp criticism of LePage from Sheline and two former Democratic mayors, state rep. Thom Harnett of Gardiner and Bev Uhlenhake of Brewer.

The trio said LePage has always been hostile to revenue sharing, providing 2% of state revenues to municipalities through most of his two-term tenure as governor compared to the 5% figure that Democratic Gov. Janet Mills reached this year, the first time since 2009 the state has met the legal standard in Maine.

That money has made the difference, the mayors said, in allowing cities like Lewiston and South Portland to make progress without relying on much higher property taxes.

For LePage supporters, though, history shows mayors themselves can make a difference.

“Paul LePage has a proven track record of lowering taxes and, as mayor of Waterville, he cut property taxes without cutting a single service,” said Brent Littlefield, political adviser to the former governor.

LePage, who hopes to unseat Mills in a three-way race that includes independent Sam Hunkler, has never been a fan of revenue sharing.

LePage said on Portland radio station WGAN this year that if the state would “right size our schools and right size our governments,” then Maine “could literally lower property taxes” and “wouldn’t need revenue sharing.”

Mills brought revenue sharing to 3% in her first year as governor, then hiked it in each of the two subsequent years before reaching the 5% level mandated in a 2004 statewide ballot question.

“After years of cuts and neglect, I am proud to say that my administration and the Legislature have fully restored municipal revenue sharing, as the voters demanded long ago,” Mills said in August.

“This is not only basic good governance, but it is an important source of funding for cities and towns that helps deliver all manner of municipal services, like EMS or education, and holds down property tax increases that can hurt older people on fixed incomes,” she said.

Rep. Thom Harnett, former mayor of Gardiner, speaks Wednesday morning in Kennedy Park in Lewiston during a press conference. Lewiston mayor Carl Sheline, left, and Maine Democratic Party Vice Chair Bev Uhlenhake, former mayor of Brewer, also spoke about the upcoming governor election. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

The leader of the Maine Republican Party, Demi Kouzounas, said Wednesday the trio at the press conference in Lewiston were “doing Janet Mills’ dirty political work” and accused them of obscuring what she called “the clear fact” that Mills “has repeatedly raised Mainers’ costs.”

Kouzounas, however, didn’t elaborate on how Mills has raised costs. The governor did not raise taxes during her first term in office.

In one of his last speeches as governor in 2018, LePage urged Mainers to focus on tax cuts instead of using more state cash for revenue sharing for municipalities.

After pointing out that Democrats sought “to use surplus money to fully fund revenue sharing at 5% rather than the 2% the towns have received for the past six years,” LePage said, “There is no guarantee that your local government will cut your property taxes, never mind dollar-for-dollar if revenue sharing is increased.”

“The people of Maine and the municipal balance sheets would be better off if the state cut income taxes and allowed municipalities to collect property taxes or service fees from nonprofits to supplement the local property taxes,” LePage said at the time.

LePage often blames cities and towns for allowing too many exemptions that he insists are responsible for high property tax bills.

Uhlenhake, vice chair of the state Democratic Party, said that argument by LePage “is not real.”

She said municipal officials don’t give away money that they need for essential services.

Maine Democratic Party Vice Chair Bev Uhlenhake, former mayor of Brewer, speaks Wednesday morning at a press conference in Kennedy Park in Lewiston. Lewiston mayor Carl Sheline, left, and Rep. Thom Harnett, former mayor of Gardiner, right, also spoke. Russ Dillingham/Sun Journal

Harnett said that in the six years he led Gardiner during LePage’s tenure as governor, the town lost $3.2 million in state revenue because of LePage’s cuts. That meant reductions in vital services, snatching cash from needed reserves and higher property tax bills for residents.

When he complained to LePage, he said, he got back “an unbelievably curt” letter from the governor that basically told him to “stop your frivolous spending,” Harnett said. He said the town only spent money on items such as public safety, firefighting, schools and roads, nothing that struck him as frivolous.

Earlier this year, Catherine Conlow, executive director of Maine Municipal Association, said in a prepared statement that restoring the 5% revenue sharing was a “step towards strengthening the state-municipal partnership.”

“These revenues reduce the burdens placed on property taxpayers and recognize that municipal economic development efforts support the state’s economic vitality,” Conlow said. “After enduring over 15 years of reductions, municipal leaders are relieved that the Mills Administration and Legislature recognize the importance of this program and the contributions of municipal leaders.”