Maine employers will be paying $54 million more in unemployment taxes beginning in January. By the end of this year, the Maine Unemployment Trust Fund will have paid out nearly $254 million in benefits to unemployed workers, but the taxes employers are paying into the fund will total only $83 million.
Maine Labor Commissioner Laura Fortman says the law requires an increase in the tax to keep the fund solvent. "We made some significant changes to our unemployment insurance program to make sure that if we did go into a recession, we would have the reserves necessary to survive that," she says. "And this system has proven its worth -- we are in a situation where we've had the worst recession in many, many years."
But those in the business community say the tax increase will come at a time when employers are already under great financial strain, according to Capitol News Service. They say it could force companies to resort to layoffs or benefit cutbacks in order to make up for the extra expense.
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