Dear Editor:

I write to celebrate an historic moment for tax fairness in Maine.

The Legislative Appropriations Committee in Augusta recently voted to include a millionaire tax in Maine’s supplemental budget that would apply a 2% surcharge on income over $1 million.

As the Maine Center for Economic Policy notes, “this would affect some 2,600 people or 0.4% of Maine’s taxpayers. In return it would generate $96 million in the first year and $150 million in the following biennium.”

It would make possible increases in property tax fairness credits for home owners and renters, childcare assistance for working families, a boost in pay for care workers, tuition-free community college, and much more.

For far too long middle income Maine families have been paying a higher effective tax rate than the wealthiest 1% of their neighbors. The millionaire tax would begin to fix that.

Though most Mainers, including the wealthy, support the new tax, some fear it will cause flight from the state. But when Massachusetts passed a similar 4% tax in 2022, it raised nearly twice what was projected and the number of millionaires in the state grew by 38.6%.

Now the budget heads to the full State House and Senate. Please call or write your State Representative and Senator to encourage them to vote for the millionaire tax. It is the right thing to do and will enhance the quality of life for everyone in our state.

Susan Stedman

Westport Island