School budget 'catastrophic' for towns

PARIS —  A SAD 17 budget increase will stretch town budgets and local taxpayers beyond the breaking point, but clear solutions to the problem aren't forthcoming.

That was the consensus that emerged from a December 20 workshop for town selectboard and budget committee chairs, held at the Paris fire station.

Representatives from Harrison, Waterford, Otisfield, Hebron and Paris, as well as State House Representative Lisa Villa, attended the meeting at the invitation of Paris Selectboard Chair Sam Elliot.

Several school board members, including board chair Ron Kugell, also attended, but walked out after Elliot refused to let them speak.

The workshop was organized by Elliot to air towns' concerns as to how the school district's possible assessment increase of 11 percent might impact municipal budgets.

Towns squeezed

Town representatives said a tax increase was a serious concern –  most were trying to keep a flat municipal budget, but a school district and county budget increase and a reduction in state support forced them to raise taxes.

Elliot said Paris had made significant "sacrifices" to its budget in order to accommodate school district budget increases.

Waterford Selectboard Chair Randy Lessard said his town's budget was stretched to the breaking point – any unanticipated cost could result in cash flow issues.

Elderly residents on a fixed budget formed a significant proportion of Waterford taxpayers, Lessard said. He wasn't sure they all could sustain another increase.

Harrison Town Manager George "Bud" Finch said the town provided 21 percent of the school budget in 2013, despite having only 10 percent of the student population.

Although Harrison has many seasonal residents, an increase would hurt low-income taxpayers, Finch predicted.

"We're probably taking food off their table and clothes off their back," he said.

The school budget was only the tip of the iceberg, Finch predicted –  as federal and state aid continued to decline, towns would start to experience serious repercussions.

"I think we're in a crisis situation where if we go to pay our budgets we do things like cut into our un-designated fund balance, cut into our capital plan money, cut fixing our roads ... we're not being open and honest to our taxpayers about the reality out there," he said.

Otisfield Selectboard Chair Hal Ferguson said the town succeeded in keeping a flat mil rate for three years until the 2012-2013 school budget.

He noted the 9 percent increase estimated by Superintendent Rick Colpitts last year was now 11 percent.

"I suspect the number will be closer to 14 or 15 [percent] by the time we get to it," Ferguson said. "It's going to be catastrophic for any town to try to absorb."

Paris Budget Committee Chairman Vick Hodgkins said he was "at a loss" for solutions to the possible $343,000 increase the town might face because of the school budget.

The biggest fear, Hodgkins said, was that more people wouldn't be able to handle the tax increase, placing the burden on fewer and fewer property owners.

Few solutions

Although an assessment increase would put towns in dire straits, the group appeared to have few easy or obvious solutions to the problem.

Most agreed that inviting members of the school board, the superintendent and including the other towns in the discussion was crucial.

Lessard said the group should reach out to school board members and get insight into the details of the school budget process.

Elliot questioned the district's use of federal grants. He claimed the district's PEP grant would cost the district "easily $500,000 a year" after federal funding ran out.

Using the grant to replace lost physical education positions wasn't a convincing explanation, Elliot suggested.

"The phys. ed. program, whatever it's been for all these years, I've never heard anybody complain about it, girls in general don't like it, they can't do their hair after phys. ed.," he stated.

Finch said he was unsure if the school district was receiving all the resources it needed, but he knew the towns had little left to give.

He said getting involved in the school budget details was unhelpful. The towns needed to work on a higher level and explain how badly they were being squeezed on multiple levels, Finch said.

The group agreed that focus should also be put on the state, which does not pay its required 55-percent share of education funding to local districts.

Finch said the Essential Programs and Services school funding model the state used was a"one-size-fits-all formula that doesn't fit every community."

The group agreed to bring their concerns to state legislators. 

If the group wanted to get legislators involved it should do so quickly, Villa said –  things would begin to move quickly once the new legislative session started in January.

The group agreed that Elliot would send an invitation to a January 16 workshop to legislators, school board members, selectmen and the superintendent in order to discuss the issue further.

Photo: Peter L. McGuire

CONCERNED — Representatives from Harrison, Otisfield, Hebron, Paris and Waterford air concerns with the impact a school budget increase may have on municipal finances during a December 20 workshop.