Budget solutions need united front

Next year's school budget hasn't even been written and it's already raising fears of impending financial doom.

Preliminary numbers are certainly scary –  a $1.8 million budget increase, 11 percent tax hike on local property owners and the possibility of losing state funding.

Concern with the school budget was obvious during a recent workshop held for representatives of towns in the district.

Words like "crisis" and "catastrophic" were used to describe the school budget's impact on municipal finances.

Members of the group even expressed concern that the increase would result in property owners choosing between paying taxes and putting food on the table.

But the school district must also be concerned – SAD 17 has one of the lowest per-pupil costs in the area and we wonder how much further it can go before standards of education start to slip.

For some, the school board appears to be the enemy, greedily taking what towns can't afford to give, without regard for the suffering it causes.

That attitude was obvious during the recent workshop, when the school board chair's attempt to answer questions was rudely dismissed.

Pitting towns against the school board is bound to hurt everyone, including students.

What is needed instead is a concerted, collaborative effort to lobby Augusta for another waiver or legislation to excuse the district from paying its full share under the Essential Programs and Services funding model.   

That's precisely what Superintendent Rick Colpitts asked from towns last year – we wonder how many took his advice.

EPS is flawed – as Harrison Town Manager Bud Finch said at the workshop, it's a "one-size-fits-all formula that doesn't fit every community."

The state is considering reviewing the efficacy of EPS altogether, potentially in the next legislative session.

That means SAD 17 might have a slim chance to escape what so many see as a fiscal Armageddon.

That flicker of hope will be snuffed out if the budget debate becomes an internecine struggle between towns and school board.

The Advertiser Democrat Editorial Board