Auburn residents might be required to pay a “rain tax” if the proposed merger with Lewiston is passed. The “rain tax” is a stormwater runoff fee that residents of Lewiston are currently required to pay.
The fee makes more sense in Lewiston because of the higher number of untaxed non-profit properties located there (including Bates College, the hospitals and others). In Lewiston, the rain tax reduces the overall cost for most homeowners by having the non-profits share in the cost.
The Lewiston-Auburn Joint Charter Commission is recommending that the current residents of Auburn be required to pay the rain tax if the merger is passed by the voters in November. That is yet another reason for Auburn residents to vote “no” against the poorly thought merger proposal. It is just another example of how the tax burden will be shifted from Lewiston to Auburn.
Auburn taxes are already astronomical. Residents do not need a “rain tax” to add insult to injury.
Barbara Stockwell, Auburn
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