School subsidy changes limited for most towns

Preliminary school subsidy amounts released by the Maine Department of Education indicate that some area towns will be gaining funding and others losing some monies, but not by a significant amount for most school districts. AOS 77 Superintendent Jim Underwood comments, "It's better than last year. The impact is not tremendous on most towns."
The only exception is Robbinston, which Underwood says will be "in dire straits."
For most of the towns in AOS 77, the minimum local share to be raised is up about half a mill, with the local tax rate increasing from 8.1 to 8.48 mills. "In every case, except for Pembroke and Eastport, the increase for the local minimum to be raised is higher than the increase from the state subsidy," he points out.
In Robbinston, "the impact will be very significant," says Underwood. The state subsidy is $83,000 less and the local minimum share will be about $15,000 more, for nearly a $100,000 difference in funding "just to keep things even." While the state had given Robbinston over $100,000 more in subsidy last year, Underwood notes that he had pleaded with the school board not to use that funding to reduce local taxes, as "they would very likely be hit" with an a state subsidy cut this year. Concerning the decision to reduce the local taxes, he says, "That was not a wise thing to do, in my opinion." He points out that it's "very difficult to reduce taxes by $100,000 then increase them by $100,000." The superintendent adds that Robbinston's decision to leave the AOS will not make any difference with the state subsidy.
The state subsidy amounts are based on student population and local property valuation, and Underwood points out some examples to show the local impact, with more funding for more students and less funding for higher property valuation. In Perry, the number of students increased significantly and the property valuation increased by about $2 million. While Perry is projected to receive nearly $38,000 more state subsidy, Underwood notes that the property valuation increase kept the town from receiving significantly more funding.
For Pembroke and Eastport, the preliminary state funding numbers indicate a positive impact. Pembroke's subsidy is projected to increase by nearly $20,000, with the local minimum increasing by about $15,000, for a $5,000 gain for local taxpayers. While the number of students is down by a few, the property valuation is down by $2.25 million. In Eastport, the number of resident students is almost the same, while the property valuation is up by about $800,000. Eastport is projected to receive $188,000 more in state subsidy, while the local minimum will increase by $63,000.
Critics of the state's Essential Programs and Services funding formula have argued for many years that property valuation is not a good measure of a town's wealth, particularly in coastal rural communities that have high shoreland valuations but economically disadvantaged families. For example, the coastal community of Lubec will receive only $164,000 in state subsidy, while Machias is projected to receive $1.7 million and Calais' state subsidy will be $4.14 million.
In addition to the criticism of the funding formula itself, others point out that the state has not been funding 55% of the cost of public K-12 education, as voters have mandated, and that the governor's current budget proposal would decrease the state's share of funding even more. The Maine School Management Association (MSMA) sent out an alert about the March 9 public hearing before the legislature's Appropriations and Education committees on the proposed budget for K-12 education, which would lead to sizeable increases in the amount local taxpayers would have to contribute to the cost of public education. According to the MSMA, state aid for education would increase by only $20 million, while the cost of education in the budget will go up by $68 million in 2015-16. The state share of the cost of K-12 education would drop to 46.25%, with the local share increasing to 53.75% -- "almost opposite to the voter mandate that said the state should pick up 55%," the MSMA statement notes.
Subsidies for area towns
The preliminary subsidy amounts for area towns are as follows: Alexander -- $3,526 decrease to $246,239; Baileyville -- $4,775 increase to $463,171; Beals -- $34,905 decrease to $59,845; Calais -- $145,041 decrease to $4,140,449; Charlotte -- $690 decrease to $285,907; Cooper -- $2,135 increase to $5,216; Crawford -- $192 decrease to $1,174; Cutler -- $4,803 increase to $289,985; Dennysville -- $3,555 decrease to $216,386; East Machias -- $7,111 increase to $1,220,342; Eastport -- $188,274 increase to $265,768; Grand Lake Stream -- $162 increase to $2,878; Jonesboro -- $90,875 increase to $264,503; Jonesport -- $16,222 decrease to $97,384; Machias -- $42,600 increase to $1,702,750; Machiasport -- $30,237 increase to $115,595; Marshfield -- $20,182 increase to $243,127; Meddybemps -- $28 decrease to $1,570; Northfield -- $411 increase to $5,155; Pembroke -- $19,486 increase to $479,032; Perry -- $37,539 increase to $356,684; Princeton -- $58,952 decrease to $476,808; Robbinston -- $83,047 decrease to $287,043; Roque Bluffs-- $1,366 increase to $34,203; Talmadge -- $13,242 decrease to $31,860; Vanceboro -- $23,043 decrease to $77,553; Waite -- $4,603 decrease to $45,778; Wesley -- $3,963 increase to $10,397; Whiting -- $4,744 decrease to $31,263; Whitneyville -- $9,309 decrease to $126,863; Baring -- $7,090 decrease to $165,114; MSAD 19, Lubec -- $17,814 increase to $163,596; Indian Township -- $182,291 decrease to $1,678,719; Pleasant Point -- $84,727 decrease to $1,476,389; East Range CSD -- $7,709 decrease to $169,294; Moosabec CSD -- $106,389 increase to $248,790.