The cut back of the trickle down Maine taxpayer generated funding.

Everyone admits the need to rein in the spending. Talks the talk. Just not in my corner. Shaved from out of the small town piece of shrinking funding pie they receive. Depends on whose ox is getting gored.

Revenue sharing no longer generously showered from up above.

The bone dropped, always depended on from the state, federal government is not in the bowl. It all whispers, shouts and then screams for the need to scale it back on local expenditures.

Pick up the pace to adjust, match the loss of funding. To keep the small Maine town healthy but lean and mean to survive. Living within its means. Right side up.

Whoa Nellie on the overspending already is slow to gain traction unless you are in the East Millinocket region where no choice, things are pretty dire.

Area belt tightening of money a small Maine town just does not have. To take up the slack. From depending on higher up the government levels in the food chain too long. On what dried up, evaporated. Of changes in aging industry missing from the landscape. Shuttered, vacant, abandoned. Moved away to better business environments, or just plain defunct bankrupt. Outdated or gone off shore, overseas.

Revenue that has been missing for awhile now. The life support machinery cool, colored lights off, quiet, dusty. As any precious local reserves are eaten up in the wasteful idling. Not adjusting the dials to adopt a plan that allows for continued scaling back quicker. To do what’s necessary and better sooner than later.

Aggressive, decisive, necessary, painful steps needed but not taken across the board hurts everyone.

To fill the shotgun holes, blasted shrapnel coming in from all directions. Peppering the wallets and purses asked, demanded to open wider. To keep the lights on in the small Maine community.

Hitting the heart of the budget line items. Nicking the artery of what was there but looking back only distracting, delaying in the hope it returns. The problems on the state and federal levels is deep enough to assure that won’t happen soon.

The luxury of waiting for a miracle is not there for small Maine towns not flush with cash. That like the taxpayers that struggle to stay, populate it, need a plan.

In Northern Maine, Aroostook County the census hemorrhages yearly. As folks die, move away, not being replaced at the same rate or for growth to happen. The numbers to drive home the point are the census for 1980 91,331, 1990 86,936, 2000 73,936, 2010 71,870, 2013 70,055. Aroostook County is the size of CT and RI combined. With only 11 people per square mile.

Shrinking population contributing, along with inflation and the ignored over spending are a dangerous cocktail we won’t wake up from if consumption does not change.

If the spending is “make it a double”. Decreasing players to fund the Maine towns, spread out the cost is causing acceleration in the population drain nose dive. Duplication in government is so wasteful.

Heard out in public. “Can’t afford to live there, mil rate just hiked higher and higher is killing me.” Scaring away young people who needs jobs but also the lower cost to live in these tight knit, friendly communities. That are scared. But don’t freeze at the controls to the spending levers.

When far from product, service markets, contending with a long winter, high heating costs and aging population all of Maine is experiencing.

Overspending that causes a small Maine town or city to bleed out faster if ignored.

If more than only token cutbacks steps are taken. With the public relations game of a little money shell game from this account. To band aid, temporarily patch that one. But ignoring the financial realty of the very dark clouds brewing, forming overhead a small Maine town.

From the reduction of revenue levels that need the spending to mirror, match the slide, decline too. To live within your means, what you have to work with and filling the void with the creative Maine spirit. To make it work. With what you have and be grateful, resourceful. To do whatever it takes.

Not putting same budgets out for vote and declaring no where to cut. When you have to, whether you want to or not.

Or thinking just scale back other areas but not mine. That is not a plan for the greater good of the small Maine town. But self serving, aloof, out of touch.

But treated as good enough.

Bluffing, arrogant like a card shark with the dark glasses. Emotionless face that you can’t read in the stand off. When the money is just not there to stomach another sucker punch.

A tax mill increase when already too high and scaring away business relocation. Putting the local town taxpayers on the ropes, slipping down to the canvas. Down for the count as the bells rings loudly.

Do what needs to be done. Not ship shod avoiding the reductions because it is not popular. Not easy but only gets harder as you wait.

For everyone to bicker, grumble when the energy should be in coming up with solutions. Not personal attacks, ancient history lamenting of past mistakes. But kicking into gear. Those hard but the majority on board hammered out best direction decisions implement and let’s get cracking.

Instead of hoping next year the sun will come out tomorrow sang like a hopeful but sorrowful little Broadway Annie solo.

Not the logic, approach that one uses in their own household finances. Or when running a small Maine business feeling the strain of higher taxes, over regulation. And the overall onus that government and school administrations are out of touch with the majority of taxpayers.

That just don’t have reserve to handle the jack up the property taxes, local permit and service fees. To feed the ignored cancer that is bloating, spreading. That put off is going to be bloody in the eleventh hour what do we do now scramble. When options are limited, the small town has painted itself into a tight corner.

I’m Maine REALTOR Andrew Mooers, ME Broker
207.532.6573
info@mooersrealty.com