I read with interest the recent op-ed piece extolling the virtues of TABOR II authored by my good friend, Mayor Paul LePage of Waterville.

I agree with Paul about most things in life. We are both Republicans, both believe in the merits of regional cooperation, and we are both upset about the lack of a decent shortstop on the Boston Red Sox.

But on Tabor II, I think Paul is dead wrong.

Paul correctly points out how well Waterville is doing in holding the line on taxes and expenses. The city has implemented cost-cutting measures that have reduced its municipal employee numbers and held down the property tax rate. Those are not easy cuts to make and my hat is off to Paul and his Council colleagues for making those tough decisions in difficult economic times.

We have done the same thing here in my home town of Augusta, reducing our work force, lowering our spending and keeping our property taxes lower than Waterville.

With those cuts have come some reductions in services to our residents and painful dislocation in the lives of those we had to lay off. But no one said it would be easy.

At the same time, Augusta has enjoyed some exciting new additions for our community: a new high school, the beginning development of our historic arsenal property, and the opening of a world-class cancer care center.

Waterville and Augusta have two things in common. We are both headed in the right direction, and we are doing so without the burden of TABOR II, which would steer us off course, in my view.

Because of Maine's longstanding tradition of local control, our communities can take the steps that will work for them. While supporters of TABOR II are couching the referendum as "let the voters decide," the fact is that we already decide thanks to town meetings and local control. TABOR II would take away our right to make those decisions and replace it with a rigid formula.

If TABOR sounds familiar, it should. It is the same ill-conceived concept that Maine people said "no" to in 2004 and again in 2006. TABOR II is a referendum question that would put in place a complicated spending formula so rigid and arbitrary it would strangle many parts of state and local government.

It could not be coming at a worse time for Maine as we try to dig our way out of a recession. Just when we should be investing in technology, education, health care and trying to grow jobs, TABOR would set the clock back.

What will TABOR II do? It caps any spending increases at both the state and local level to the rate of inflation. Any spending above that would have to go out to referendum. So what is wrong with that? First of all, TABOR II limits do not match the reality. Most of our state spending goes to public schools, higher education and health care -- the costs of which now rise faster than the rate of inflation. It is apples and oranges.

The "one size fits all" of TABOR II would be applied at the state level, not only to the general fund, but also the highway fund and all other special revenue accounts.

Have you noticed that Maine roads are in bad shape? Our highway maintenance programs already are badly underfunded.

Paul even notes that Waterville had to make up a $3 million shortfall in road repair because the state could not afford to do it -- do we really want to make matters worse for our roads and shift even more costs to our local towns? Going down that path is a recipe for higher property taxes.

With TABOR II, we could look forward to special referendum votes every time we decide to get serious about our potholes. And hundreds of other special revenue accounts also fall under the TABOR II funding formula. Sure, we can all vote to exceed the spending limits, but does it make sense to hold a special referendum every time we want to increase funding for Meals on Wheels to feed some of Maine's elderly? Talk about wasting money!

The referendum itself could end up costing taxpayers more than the perceived savings. And that is just one example of hundreds. Do you really want a special election every time we want to increase spending for the Maine Sardine Council? I don't.

Look no further than Colorado to see the havoc TABOR wreaks under the guise of "reform." Public safety services were cut. It was a disaster for schools and put a stranglehold on health care. The voters in Colorado finally got fed up and suspended the operation of TABOR.

And do we want to end up like California, a state that seems to have evolved into government by referendum? Their finances are a total mess.

From my perspective, our state is best served by electing good people to office and then "throwing the bums out" if they do not do a good job. It is called representative democracy.

Let's not make the Colorado mistake. Let's not become California. We have said no twice to TABOR and it is time to say no again. Then Paul and I can go back to discussing who should play shortstop for the Red Sox next year.

Roger J. Katz is mayor of Augusta.