Good Morning
The public hearing on  LD 13 "An Act To Provide an Exemption from Sales Tax
and Service Provider Tax to Nonprofit Collaboratives of Libraries" has been
re-scheduled for

Monday, Feb  9 2015
10:00AM
State House, Room 127

This is the bill that will allow organizations such as the 501c3 non-profit
Maine InfoNet Collaborative the ability to apply for and receive a sales
tax exemption certificate. That will allow us to more easily help libraries
work together through joint purchases and services.

If you are interested in supporting this legislation, please feel free to
come to the Public Hearing-- even if you don't speak, I can reference the
library representatives in attendance as support for this bill.

If you can't make it to the hearing, please reach out to the Senators and
Representatives on the Taxation Committee to register your support.

Senate: Earle L. McCormick, Chair (R-Kennebec)
                 Paul T. Davis, Sr. (R-Piscataquis)
                 Nathan L. Libby (D-Androscoggin)
     House:  Adam A. Goode, Chair (D-Bangor)
                 Stephen S. Stanley (D-Medway)
                 Matthew W. Moonen (D-Portland)
                 Diane M. Russell (D-Portland)
                 Denise A. Tepler (D-Topsham)
                 H. Stedman Seavey (R-Kennebunkport)
                 Bruce A. Bickford (R-Auburn)
                 Paul Chace (R-Durham)
                 Thomas H. Skolfield (R-Weld)
                 Gary E. Sukeforth (U-Appleton)

Many libraries have already sent me letters in support of this legislation
and I have included those in my testimony packet.  With this rescheduling,
if you didn't send a letter, but would like to be included in my packet,
please send me a letter by 2pm tomorrow (Friday) afternoon and I will
update my written and spoken testimony.

If you reach out to the committee or provide a letter, some key talking
points might be:

-The value of library collaboratives such as Maine InfoNet to your library
(e.g. technical management of the MARVEL! research tools, management of
MaineCat, Minerva, URSUS, MILS and SOLAR, the services of the Maine InfoNet
Download Library, etc.)

-That this measure is a way to help libraries work together to better serve
their community members and save money. Since libraries already have a
sales tax exemption, groups of libraries should also be exempt from sales
tax.

-That this is a revenue neutral exemption that simply reduces paperwork and
bureaucracy. Because libraries are exempt from sales tax, without this bill
Maine InfoNet would need to purchase items either through a single library
as a fiscal agent (putting undue burden on a single library) or through a
sales tax resale certificate which would require collection and submission
of sales tax exemption certificates from all partners involved in a project
for which a purchase is made.

Please feel free to contact me directly if you have questions about this
bill or what Maine InfoNet does.

Also, if you think you might attend, please let me know, so I can have my
notes ready to go!

Thank you!
-James

_____________________________
James M Jackson Sanborn
Executive Director, Maine InfoNet
University of Maine
5784 York Village, Suite 58
Orono, Maine 04469-5784
207-581-3083
207-356-0238 (cell)
207-581-3095 (fax)
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