The Maine referendum campaigns are winding down. Like most political campaigns, they have spawned political commercials and claims that are misleading or downright untrue.

So it's time to deal with some of the myths that have grown up during this year's campaigns.

Question 1 Myth: Teaching school students about gay marriage will make them more likely to be gay.

Nobody has actually said that, but if that were not the meaning of the proponents of Question 1, why bother to mention that the schools may teach about gay marriage? One supposes that parents are meant to worry that their straight kids will become gay because of what they hear.

While there is no place for the discussion of marriage in the curriculum, any subject that is part of the human experience could come up in school. Schools need to deal with reality.

But the mere fact that people talk about such subjects does not mean that students or others are being propagandized to try them. There is simply no evidence that learning there is such a thing as same-sex marriage makes the listener more likely to be gay.

Question 2 Myth: Cutting the excise tax on automobiles will promote hybrid cars and the local revenue loss can be made up by the property tax.

Few people, if any, even think about the excise tax when they purchase a car. While price is a factor, people are seldom deterred by the excise tax itself.

People do think about their property taxes. All auto excise tax revenues stay in the municipality and are used to reduce the property tax.

Some people say that if the excise tax is cut, the property tax will have to be raised. But the tax cap already in place and the proposed new TABOR could make that impossible.

So the result could be less money available for essential local services, especially roads.

Question 3 Myth: If voters repeal school consolidation, state budget savings will be lost and the bill for education will increase.

That might be true, but it isn't necessarily so.

I have previously suggested in this space that instead of trying to eliminate school districts and local control, the Legislature could require school districts to carry out many functions in common, just as they now do for vocational education.

Joint purchasing is a much older tradition in Maine than the elimination of local governmental or administrative units. What's more, the state Education Department cannot say if the consolidation law has worked.

If you want to save money on education spending, the state could get much tougher on the cost of new school buildings. Most look like architectural luxuries compared, say, with new school structures in neighboring New Brunswick.

Question 4 Myth: TABOR II would put a cap on state and local spending at its current level, allowing for some small upward adjustments, and would put the brakes on only future spending increases.

In fact, TABOR II would inevitably mean reductions in current government activities. They would have to recede from their current levels.

The proposal would effectively place a ceiling on spending by imposing an extremely high hurdle to making appropriations above an historic base. But governments are customers in the open market for a wide range of supplies and services, and the cost of those purchases would not be capped.

Costs of materials used in road building or school construction are rising much faster than the rate of inflation.

If the state or a municipality has about the same amount to spend each year but its costs are increasing faster than its revenues, it must do less.

Fewer roads will be repaired, fewer social services will be provided by third parties, and fewer recreation facilities will be available.

For some, such cutbacks might be desirable. But it is not correct to say that the tax cap would maintain a business-as-usual budget.

It is true that Maine needs the Legislature to be tougher about spending priorities. Voters should get the services they want from government, but only if they are willing and able to pay for them.

The Maine Election Myth: Maine always has an excellent voter turnout.

Every four years when there is a presidential election, Maine is one of the top states in terms of voter turnout. Election Day registration helps.

This year, some of the ballot questions look quite close, but Maine turnout is expected to be well below last year's.

We can turn this myth into reality by turning out to vote.

Gordon L. Weil, a weekly columnist for this newspaper, is an author, publisher, consultant and former international organization, U.S. and Maine government official.