Polls have opened in every municipality this morning, with lots on the ballots, depending where one lives. The statewide ballot is asking Maine citizens to approve a bond for business development, and there are individual marijuana, land use and policy questions on various town ballots.

Tomorrow is town meeting for several Midcoast communities, and that’s a whole other aspect of keeping local Maine government thriving. Check your town websites for information.

PenBayPilot.com will get the results posted tonight, as they are reported.

Statewide ballot question

The state is asking voters: "Do you favor a $50,000,000 bond issue to provide $45,000,000 in funds for investment in research, development and commercialization in the State to be used for infrastructure, equipment and technology upgrades that enable organizations to gain and hold market share, to increase revenues and to expand employment or preserve jobs for Maine people, to be awarded through a competitive process to Maine-based public and private entities, leveraging other funds in a one-to-one ratio and $5,000,000 in funds to create jobs and economic growth by lending to or investing in small businesses with the potential for significant growth and strong job creation?"

According to the Maine state treasurer, General Obligation bonds are backed by the full faith and credit of the State and must be submitted statewide to voters for approval. Once approved, the Treasurer issues bonds as needed to fund the approved bond projects and uses a rapid 10-year repayment of principal strategy to retire the debt. If the bond proposals on the ballot in June 2017 are approved by the voters, general obligation debt service as a percentage of the State’s General Fund, Highway Fund and Revenue Sharing appropriations is expected to be 2.30 percent in FY17 and 2.78 percent in FY18.

The intent of the bond is:

This Act would authorize the State to issue general obligation bonds in an amount not to exceed fifty million dollars ($50,000,000), to raise funds for the purpose of economic development.

The bonds would run for a period not longer than 10 years from the date of issue and would be backed by the full faith and credit of the State. Proceeds of the sale of the bonds would be expended as follows:

• Forty-five million dollars ($45,000,000) would be distributed by the Maine Technology Institute in the form of grants to support infrastructure, equipment and technology upgrades in the following targeted technology sectors: biotechnology, aquaculture and marine technology, composite materials technology, environmental technology, advanced technologies for forestry and agriculture, information technology, and precision manufacturing technology. Funds would be awarded to public and private entities in Maine through a competitive process, and recipients would be required to match these State dollars with an equivalent amount of federal or private funds.

• Five million dollars ($5,000,000) would be placed in the Small Enterprise Growth Fund, which is administered by the Finance Authority of Maine and disbursed at the direction of the Small Enterprise Growth Board, for investments in qualifying small businesses that demonstrate the potential for high-growth and public benefit. The statute establishing this Fund defines a small business as one that employs fifty or fewer employees or had gross sales of five million dollars ($5,000,000) or less within the last twelve months for which financial data is available.

Eligible businesses are those involved in: marine sciences, biotechnology, manufacturing, export of goods or services out of state or that result in significant amounts of capital being imported into the State, software development, environmental services or technologies, financial or insurance products or services, value-added goods from natural resources, and any other enterprises found to meet the purposes and intent of the program. Applicants must provide evidence of commitment of all reasonably available resources to the project and a need for the financial assistance from the fund in order to realize projected growth and achievement of public benefits.

If approved, the authorization of these bonds would take effect 30 days after the Governor’s proclamation of the vote. A “YES” vote approves the issuance of up to fifty million dollars ($50,000,000) in general obligation bonds to finance the activities described above. A “NO” vote disapproves the bond issue in its entirety. Debt Service Prepared by the Office of the Treasurer Total estimated life time cost is $63,750,000 representing $50,000,000 in principal and $13,750,000 in interest (assuming interest at 5.00% over 10 years).