Bibliography of Maine Financial Information
Compendium of State Fiscal Information
from the Office of Fiscal and Program Review (OFPR) (287-1635) summarizes the recent history of all major sources of operating revenue and expenditures plus debt obligations and per capita comparisons with other states.
The first volume of the Governor’s Budget document submitted in January of each odd year contain helpful pie graphs and analytical material on budget issues.
Any recent Maine General Obligation Bond, available from the State Treasurer (287-2771), contains state fiscal information, much of it in narrative and graphic form addressed to potential investors.
Reports of the Maine State Revenue Forecasting Committee, available from the State Planning Office (287-3261) and OFPR, outline four-year projections for revenues based on underlying economic assumptions that are updated each December 1 and March 1.
Summary of Major State Funding Disbursed to Municipalities and Counties from the Office of Fiscal and Program Review (287-1635) summarizes the recent history of all sources of state support flowing to Maine’s municipalities.
Municipal Valuation Return Statistical Summary, published by the Property Tax Division of Maine Revenue Services (287-2011), contains a complete summary of property taxes collected by each town plus aggregate figures by county and state.
Commissioner’s Recommended Funding Level, published each December 15 by the Department of Education (624-6790), contains an outline and recent history of the K-12 school funding formula which accounts for 30% of the General Fund budget.
Medicaid in Maine, an annual report from the Bureau of Medical Services of DHS (287-2674), the state’s largest health insurer, outlines recent trends in Medicaid spending broken down into components. The state’s share of Medicaid accounts for 1/6 of the General Fund budget and is leveraged with a two-to-one match from the federal government.
Maine State Retirement System Annual Report describes all state, teacher and local pension systems administered by MSRS (287-3461) including investment returns on $7 billion of assets. Annual contributions to state and teacher pensions cost about 10% of the General Fund. The state’s unfunded liability is $1.9 billion, nearly an entire year’s General Fund tax revenue.
Maine Tax Incidence Studies printed in December of each even numberd year by the Research Division of Maine Revenue Services (287-6965) explains where state and local tax revenues come from and who pays them. It includes comparative data from other states. Economist Mike Allen is the Bureau’s chief analyst.
A Golden Opportunity II published by the Maine State Planning Office (287-3261) in December 1999 outlines how Maine can enhance the retirement industry. A valuable part of the document is Appendix C, a report entitled "Taxes and Retirement in the State of Maine" prepared for the Libra Foundation by the Kennedy School. This study contains an insightful general profile of Maine’s state and local tax structure and addresses how Maine’s wealthy retirees interface with high taxes and cold winters.
The Maine Policy Review published three times a year by the Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy at UMO contains a wealthy analytical history of policy issues relevant to our work as Maine legislators. Past articles are available in the Law Library and can be downloaded from www.umaine.edu/mcsc/mpr.htm.
Maine Center for Economic Policy (622-7381) (website at MECEP.org) and the Maine Municipal Association (623-8428) are constantly publishing fresh and valuable analytical work of use to Maine legislators. Of recent note is Frank O’Hara’s Maine Revenue Primer published by MECEP in April of 2003, a lucid summary of Maine’s revenue sources.
The Condition of K-12 Public Education in Maine published each year by the Maine Education Policy Research Institute (780-5044) assembles information on public education and school funding as well as census and income data to put education into perspective.
Dollars and Sense by Josephine LaPlante and Robert Devlin published by the Muskie Institute in 1993, is an encyclopedic analysis of how Maine raised and spent revenue during the decade of the 1980’s and what went wrong in 1991. The authors’ recommendations are still relevant and largely unfulfilled.
Senate and House Register, published biennially, contains photos and brief biographical data on legislators with committee assignments, phone numbers, a copy of the State Constitution, the Joint Rules and Rules for the House and Senate.
A Citizen’s Guide to the Maine Legislature published biennially by the Maine People’s Resource Center (761-1881), contains a political profile on every Maine legislator.
