By Paul Sylvain

Members of the Washington County Legislative Delegation are taking matters into their own hands to hopefully find a way out of the county government’s current fiscal quagmire.

County Commissioners Courtney Hammond, Billy Howard, and Chairman David Burns are continuing to struggle without success in their efforts to find viable alternatives to an $11 million bond referendum question aimed at setting the county’s fiscal ship back on course. 

While voter support for the bond appears to be growing in recent weeks, there still is a strong likelihood it will not pass at the polls, as the countdown to the Nov. 4 election draws closer.

“I and others have put together a very lengthy list of avenues that we are pursuing to find the right path out of this situation, [while also] trying to make sure we continue to provide the appropriate level of county services, and minimize any additional negative impact on our citizens,” Burns said via email last week. “Each of us see it as our responsibility to work toward solutions, put safeguards in place to prevent future errors and oversights, and provide the best county government our citizens can afford.”

Continuing, Burns said, “My understanding is that this is a ‘first’ for a Maine county, and it’s taking a lot of research to find answers. At this juncture, I believe that at least a portion of the proposed $11 million bond would be very helpful to get this county back into the black. However, that final decision must be made by the voters, and if the answer is ‘no,’ [then] we have an obligation to have a plan that will keep essential services going through 2025, 2026 and beyond.”

At least two Washington County legislators  — Sen. Marianne Moore (R-Calais), who supports the bond, and Rep. Will Tuell, who opposes it — have begun the legislative process, aimed at bringing emergency bills to the Statehouse floor to help address the crisis or reduce the chance of it happening again.

Sen. Moore is proposing two bills. The first would allow municipalities and counties to declare bankruptcy, shielding them from their creditors. The second would see the state pick up $8 million in an effort to prevent the county from defaulting, on Jan. 1, on a $7.6 million tax anticipation note (TAN) taken out for 2025. The TAN must be paid in full no later than Dec. 31. Moore’s bill would shield the county’s taxpayers from absorbing such a huge hit resulting from the $11 million bond.

“Keep in mind, this is the second session of the 132nd Legislature,” Moore explained by email Friday. “Consequently, we are supposed to only submit ‘emergency bills’ that will have to go before the Legislative Council for approval before we can even begin to get sponsors.”

The senator outlined the both of her bills — LR2731, An Act to Allow a Political Subdivision to Enter into Federal Bankruptcy Proceedings, and 2867, An Act Regarding the Finances of Washington County — that she has put forward in response to the county’s fiscal crisis.  

“My reasoning behind the first bill,” explained Moore, “was, when we identified that Maine is one of 22 states that does not allow counties or municipalities to file for bankruptcy under Chapter 9 rules — whereby they can do a debt reorganization — we needed to do something that might help future situations.” While she predicts the bill has a “strong possibility” of making it through the legislative process, she admits,  “It may not be in time for Washington County to get out of the situation we are currently facing.”

Moore described her second bill “a place holder," and explained, “We are hoping the governor will consider putting in a governor's bill or find funding for the $8 million we will owe, by statute, on December 31st, 2025.” She added, “We put the bill in, in case there is a ‘vehicle’ needed to procure the funding.  I'm not sure this will be needed nor approved by the Legislative Council.”

Meanwhile, Rep. Will Tuell (R-East Machias), has proposed a bill requiring that future county budgets be approved by referendum. Tuell’s bill would be phased in over time and is similar to one being submitted by Rep. David Woodsome (R-Waterboro) who, Tuell said in an interview Saturday, had discussed the issue with him several weeks ago. 

While Tuell’s bill would require the budgets of each of Maine’s 16 counties to be approved by voters, Woodsome’s bill requires counties to put the issue of whether to hold an annual budget referendum out to voters. 

“We vote on town budgets, school budgets,” said Tuell. “This mess here in Washington County is a perfect example of why the voters of the county should have an up-or-down vote on their county’s budget.” He further noted that while municipalities have indirect input on what a county spends, ultimately the county’s taxpayers must pay the bill. 

Said Tuell, “We need to trust the people to make the decisions that are right for them. We can point fingers at people over this county budget mess, but the bottom line is that local people haven’t had a say on the county budget in my lifetime.That needs to change if we are truly going to learn from this tragedy and right the ship.”

Tuell admits, “Even Rep. Woodsome’s bill would be an improvement from where we are now because it allows the people to determine if they want to be making those important decisions.”

Washington County currently operates on a Jan. 1 thru Dec. 31 fiscal year. Commissioners Burns, Hammond and Howard are looking to shift to a July 1 thru June 30 fiscal year. This would sync the county’s fiscal year along with its budget and tax billing cycles with the state of Maine’s, and the county’s cities and towns.

Tuell said his bill would be designed to allow for that process to play out before voters weigh in. 

“I want it to be flexible, because every county is different and our commissioners are looking at long term solutions to avoid such a fall from grace happening again,” said Tuell. “I am all for giving them the time to do that rather than forcing them and the dozens of small towns in Washington County to rush a referendum to the polls.”

All three bills will be screened by Democratic and Republican legislative leaders later this month. If six of the ten lawmakers agree, the bills will be presented when the Legislature returns in January. If not, both Moore and Tuell will have the opportunity to appeal their proposals in mid-November or petition Democratic Governor Janet Mills to submit her own proposal.