AUBURN — Councilors will decide whether to mothball Ingersoll Ice Arena, tear it down or pay to turn it into something else. City Manager Clinton Deschene said the fate of the city’s ice arena will be one of the questions councilors will face in the Capital Improvement plan he has scheduled to present to them […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage’s hospital debt plan depends on more liquor revenue for state
AUGUSTA — Gov. Paul LePage’s plan to repay the $186 million Maine owes its hospitals for outstanding Medicaid bills relies largely on the state’s ability to renegotiate its wholesale liquor contract under terms that direct a larger portion of liquor profits to state coffers. State officials estimate Maine can earn $30 million in profit annually […]
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Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage’s hospital debt plan depends on more liquor revenue
State officials estimate Maine can earn $30 million in profit annually from liquor sales under those more favorable terms. If LePage receives the two-thirds legislative support he needs for the plan, the state would direct the entire $30 million annual sum toward paying down the revenue bonds LePage hopes to issue this year to pay […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Maine schools say proposed budget will cost $27 million
AUGUSTA (AP) — Maine school districts said Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed budget for the next two years will result in a $27 million tax shift to local property owners. The Maine School Management Association said the budget cuts nearly $13 million through LePage’s curtailment order, and also seeks to require school districts to contribute $14 […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Governor’s budget: Court security increased but no money for e-filing
AUGUSTA — Entry screening at the state’s 38 courthouses would increase 20 percent if the governor’s proposed budget is approved, but the court system will have to find $350,000 on its own to explore the cost of converting from paper documents to an electronic filing system. Gov. Paul LePage on Friday released his $6.3 billion […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Budget bill worries Maine Clean Election advocates
AUGUSTA (AP) — Supporters of Maine’s law allowing public financing of elections are worried by a portion of Gov. Paul LePage’s proposed budget, which they say would deprive legislative and gubernatorial candidates of funds for their 2014 campaigns. The budget seeks to cut $2 million disbursements for the Maine Clean Election fund in each of […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Mayors react to governor’s budget proposal
LEWISTON — Mayor Bob Macdonald said Tuesday that he’s prepared to take whatever he can get from the state and move on — even if it means cuts to city programs. “The state is broke,” Macdonald said. “We can play the blame game back and forth, but that is not going to put money in […]
Posted inLewiston-Auburn
Settling fate of Bates Mill No. 5 tops 2013 to-do list
LEWISTON — Demolishing the Bates Mill No. 5 would be one of the biggest projects on the city’s 2013 to-do list, City Administrator Ed Barrett told councilors Tuesday night. Barrett presented a list of capital projects to a joint meeting of the City Council, the Lewiston Planning Board and the Lewiston Finance Committee. All told, […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
Proposed LePage budget includes income tax hike
The Portland Press Herald reported the increase would result from a two-year suspension of the state’s indexing of the individual tax rate. Indexing takes inflation into account in calculating taxes. The proposal in the governor’s two-year, $6.3 billion budget for the two fiscal years beginning July 1 would bring a projected increase of more than […]
Posted inMaine, sj-web
LePage flat-funds education in proposed budget riddled with cuts
AUGUSTA — Funding for public schools and higher education will remain flat in the next two years if Gov. Paul LePage’s $6.3 billion biennial budget proposal makes it through the Legislature unscathed, though members of education organizations said they are gearing up to fight many of the budget’s provisions. While Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen said […]