RSU 12 school board members approved changes to the cost sharing plan many members see as more equitable for taxpayers across the school district.

They spent Thursday night packed into the humid library at Wiscasset High School and by a supermajority vote approved changes that will be explained in separate public hearings next month.

The new formula must also be approved by residents.

The cost sharing change, according to Wiscasset representative Eugene Stover, who voted against them, “moves money around.” But as board members who approved the plan stated, it includes factors that were not part of the original cost sharing formula. The original cost sharing formula, which was used to calculate town contributions to school district education, is based upon the historical cost of education each town paid the year the school district was formed.

The proposed change is based on the total cost per subsidizable student across the school district. It is based on each town's state subsidy and also takes into account the number of students attending school, using an average between population numbers in the spring and fall.

“We will still have towns that 'win' and some towns that don't 'win',” Finance Committee Chairman Jerry Nault said in a presentation to the board. He said the new concept works to minimize the negative financial impacts to towns.

Under the new cost allocation method an adjusted “safety net” will be used to assist towns negatively impacted by state valuation, student population numbers and local costs.

The safety net

Some towns could be asked to pay more into the system due to a combination of factors. The proposed formula would be used for three years. The safety net works to minimize the impacts by distributing costs among “contributor” and “receiver” towns.

Contributor towns are those that see a decrease of local tax dollars compared to what would have been paid under the current, historic cost, formula. These towns save money and pay additional funds. 

The formula states that contributor towns would not pay more than what would have been calculated based on the original formula.

The additional funds paid by contributor towns go to assist receiver towns that pay more than what they would have paid under the historic cost formula. The additional funds are calculated by multiplying the extra money they owe that year by 75 percent the first year, 50 percent the second year and 25 percent the third year.

Any additional funds exceeding those needed by receiver towns go into an account and will be used to reduce costs for all district towns in the fourth year.

Nault said informational hearings will be announced and a second vote by the board will follow these hearings in September. A final presentation will follow in late September or early October and residents will cast their votes in November.