State Senator Anne Carney and State Representative Michelle Boyer attended the Town Council and School Board Joint Workshop on January 8, 2025. The discussion highlighted the legislators' plans for the upcoming session to address critical issues impacting Southern Maine communities. As the Fiscal Year 2026 budget process begins in earnest this month, the conversation provided valuable insights to guide the council and school board in evaluating key budget drivers. 

Carney, now in her eighth year in the legislature, previously served two years in the House of Representatives before moving to the Senate, where she is currently in her third term. During her time in the Senate, she served on the Judiciary Committee, including as its Senate Chair. Carney expressed pride in representing Cape Elizabeth and looks forward to the upcoming legislative term. She acknowledged the state's challenges, particularly those related to the budget, property taxes, and education construction funding. She believes that legislators statewide share these concerns, which affect Cape Elizabeth, fostering cooperation across suburban, urban, and rural regions. 

Currently, Carney is working on legislation focused on energy pricing and access, particularly for low-income individuals, seniors, people with fixed incomes, and those with young children or disabilities. The goal is to help these vulnerable groups afford electricity and prevent their power from being shut off. Last year, she helped strengthen the Maine Dependent Tax Credit, increasing its refundability and expanding eligibility to include care for dependent adults, not just children. Additionally, she supported extending significant income tax breaks on pension income. 

Addressing property tax issues in Southern Maine, where rising property valuations affect many areas, Carney is co-sponsoring legislation that would create a local-option food and lodging tax. This tax would allow municipalities with high tourism to impose a tax, with the revenue explicitly earmarked for property tax relief, providing targeted financial support to affected communities. Carney highlighted three key actions to ease the property tax burden: fully funding revenue sharing, ensuring the state's share of the education formula is funded at 55%, and providing support for childcare providers. The enhanced Property Tax Fairness Credit provides targeted property tax relief by linking credits to income. This approach shifts the tax burden from property taxes to income taxes while excluding low-income individuals from the shift. A special program was also introduced specifically for older Mainers, making the credit an effective tool for supporting those with limited financial means. 

Boyer, the newly elected representative for most of Cape Elizabeth, serves on the Health Coverage, Insurance, and Financial Services Committee. She stated that with her background in banking and healthcare, this committee is an ideal fit for her. Her primary focus for the current legislative session is to work on public school construction funding, aiming to make changes to the program so that more schools can receive state support for construction. 

In response to questions about the state’s school funding formula, Boyer remarked that while it is frequently reviewed and challenged, it hasn’t been adjusted in some time because of its widespread impact across the state. Adjusting it would shift costs from property tax to income tax, leaving policymakers in a difficult position between the two taxation systems. Boyer acknowledged that school construction funding poses a significant challenge, particularly in Southern Maine, where communities struggle to finance projects independently due to limited state support. Currently, the state funds only one school per year, which many consider inadequate. Efforts are underway to address this issue. A task force is exploring ways to distribute existing funds more effectively, potentially funding partial projects to support more communities. 

Boyer noted that there is considerable focus in Augusta on addressing school construction funding and that a task force established by the governor is expected to release a report by mid-April. While the group is not considering increasing the funding pool, it is exploring ways to distribute existing funds more effectively, such as supporting multiple schools annually instead of just one. Additionally, Boyer mentioned that she is sponsoring a bill to revise the funding formula, ensuring the state covers at least 25% of construction costs, with adjustments based on district funding levels. While some efforts aim to increase the overall funding pool, the emphasis remains on creating a fairer distribution system to meet statewide needs.