South Portland City Council, September 15, 2026
Every city has a few residents who actually read the budget, show up and say what everyone else is thinking. In South Portland, one of them is Don Ladd.
Who he is
SMR’s September 16 post describes Ladd as a longtime South Portland resident and a 40-year accounting and finance professional who also taught university-level accounting for a decade (SMR on X). In other words, he knows how to read a set of books.
The numbers he raised
According to SMR’s September 16 post, Ladd told officials that (source):
- his property taxes rose 52% over four years, 9% this year alone, with no additions or improvements to his property;
- 62% of that tax money goes to the school district;
- the district’s FY24 and FY25 audits flagged material weaknesses, including missed reconciliations and budget non-compliance;
- there were $1.42 million in prior-year general fund adjustments;
- transportation was overspent by $505,400 and administration by more than $200,000.
(These figures are as reported in SMR’s post; see the source above.)
Pay-as-you-throw: “definitely against this”
At the September 15 City Council meeting, the council took public comment on a pay-as-you-throw trash plan that would use special bags and camera/AI monitoring of bins. A resident who introduced himself as “Don, Highland Avenue in South Portland” spoke at 3:09:10 (SPC-TV video):
“I am against pay per bag. I’m in favor of keeping it the way it is.”
As a landlord with four tenants who share bins, he asked how the city would even know which tenant put the wrong bag out. Then he went to the heart of the matter: the “phantom tax savings.”
“The only way I could ever support this … is if you credit my property tax bill for that amount… Otherwise, these savings, we will never see it in our pockets. It’ll be spent on something else. So for those reasons, I’m definitely against this.” (3:10:09–3:10:26)
“We cannot wait”
In SMR’s September 23 post, Ladd’s message to the council was (SMR on X):
“We cannot wait for the legislature to solve our high property tax issues.”
Stop waiting on Augusta and fix it here, starting with a hiring freeze.
Why he’s a Hero of Freedom
Ladd doesn’t shout and he doesn’t posture. He brings receipts. When the city promises savings, he asks where the money actually goes, and that’s exactly the question every taxpayer should be asking.
Don, keep showing up. South Portland needs you.