March 16

Mar 16, 2025

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR/LETTERS FROM OUR READERS POLICY

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The beliefs, opinions, and viewpoints expressed by the writers of letters to the editor (letters from our readers) and included here do not necessarily reflect the beliefs, opinions, and viewpoints or official policies of The Bar Harbor Story.

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On an Island

This past Wednesday, I drove all the way to Augusta to testify in favor of LD 746, Rep. Gary Friedmann’s legislation to allow local municipalities to approve a 2% Local Options Lodging Tax (LOLT) on all short term (under 30 days) stays.

I took time out of my busy schedule because I believe this would help not only Bar Harbor, but other similar communities….communities that drive revenue for the state, but are drastically underserved by the state’s archaic revenue sharing formula.

I wanted to share the following snippet from my testimony:

“Bar Harbor’s businesses, most of whom are owned and operated by year-round residents, find themselves under constant attack. Hospitality & tourism, the lifeblood of our economy, has become divisive in Bar Harbor. While I may not always agree with some members of my community, they are still my neighbors. We all live in a tourist destination, but for some, they do not benefit from the vibrant tourism and hospitality scene. That’s because Bar Harbor, and other coastal towns, do not get their fair cut of the revenue sharing from Augusta. The state’s lack of proper revenue sharing has caused some residents in Bar Harbor to become (at times) hostile towards tourism.”

And that final point is why I am writing this letter to all of you, my neighbors. We can all disagree on many topics (cruise ships, STRs, school bonds, etc), but at the end of the day, we as a community MUST rally around the simple fact that our problems are with Augusta, not with each other. We, as a town, are always in the top 3 of taxable revenue for the state of Maine, but find ourselves 115th out of 486th in terms of revenue sharing amongst other municipalities. That is why your property taxes go up double digits every year. That is why allowing municipalities the right to enact a LOLT (or not) is paramount. Why should we not have this opportunity for financial autonomy?

Bar Harbor, Acadia National Park, and MDI as a whole drive much of the visitation to this state. Even if they are staying in other towns, MDI is often either their main or significant destination. LOLT would allow Bar Harbor, and all other communities, to decide for themselves if a 2% tax on lodging is appropriate, or not. However, after my testimony to the Tax Committee, and listening to others (including trade associations I am members of) speak against the LOLT, it was evident – Augusta does not care about Bar Harbor. We are Cinderella to the rest of the state. They see us as the belle of the ball, riding around in magic pumpkins. When in all actuality, we are the chamber maid mopping after our stepsisters. Augusta is not coming to our rescue, nor are they ever going to see Bar Harbor problems as their problems. Senator Bickford even mocked us for getting rid of cruise ships, insinuating that we already had the funds we needed.

We are figuratively, and literally, on an island. This should be a wake-up call to all residents that we cannot continue fighting, and we have to work together. We aren’t a joke to the rest of the state. Its just that they don’t care about our plight. We must open revenue streams for the town, not close them. (This goes beyond, but does include, cruise ships.) We must work towards financially sound spending, across the entire budget, instead of the perceived blank check we so often feel we are writing. We must make factually-supported decisions at the ballot box (and town meeting) that serve the betterment of Bar Harbor as a whole. We must refrain from allowing our feelings and fear-based rhetoric to tear each other apart. I have always said that Bar Harbor, and MDI, is a special place to work and call home. We must work together as neighbors, not adversaries. There’s no financial life boat headed to this island. We must all pick up an oar, and start rowing in the same direction, as a one community. That’s the only way we will make it out of the choppy waters alive.

—Bo Jennings is the director of operations for SSC Hospitality and president of the Bar Harbor Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and a year-round resident of Bar Harbor

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