After a work session on March 19, the Education and Cultural Affairs committee from the Maine Legislature voted L.D. 2226 –An Act to Amend the Essential Programs and Services School Funding Formula – ought to pass.
In 2025, the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Education Policy Research Institute completed a study of the models used to determine state funding for public schools. The results identified multiple problems with the state’s current education funding model and how it puts certain towns throughout the state at a disadvantage.
State subsidy given to schools is currently dependent on the Essential Programs and Services funding formula that takes into account property taxes across the state, using home sales to determine property values. The higher the property tax, the less amount of funding the school receives from the state, Tuttle said.
“The problem with that is that many places in Maine, you know, have people who might be living on property that is valuable, especially if you live oceanfront property, or you’re on a lake, or whatever it happens to be, but yet you may not have the income that they assume you have in order to pay the tax bill, and so it has become a glaring, glaringly unfair issue lately,” said Howie Tuttle, RSU 12’s superintendent.
If passed, L.D. 2226 would make changes to the Essential Programs and Services model that determines state subsidy, which has been in place since 2005.
School faculty members from across Lincoln County made their way to Augusta on March 9 to testify in support of L.D. 2226, which they believe will alleviate school funding issues.
Some also voiced that while they support the proposed bill, they believe improvements can be made to further expand the aid of state subsidy.
L.D. 2226 would still consider property tax, but would also take into consideration factors such as the community household income. If the bill is passed as proposed, previously disadvantaged districts would receive more support from the state which would then decrease the amount that is asked
Tuttle has been encouraging other to testify and show support for the proposed bill in any way they can. He said the more participation by those who care about changing the formula, the more likely legislators will pay attention.
RSU 12 faces what Tuttle calls a “fundamental unfairness” because the affiliated town’s property taxes are rising while the property owners are still struggling and not wealthy.
“The fact that anytime you try and change this formula, it’s not usually successful, because there’s winners and losers, and the legislators are going to vote for their community, right?” Tuttle said. “I think in this particular case, the proposal is such that it does appear that there’s way more winners than losers, so it may pass.”
Edgecomb Eddy School Committee Chair Heather Sinclair went in person to testify. Her testimony, with support from of Jack Brennan of the Edgecomb Budget Committee and Forrest Carver of the Edgecomb Select Board, expressed her support for the changes in the formula but also pushed for further action to ensure some schools were not put at a disadvantage if the bill were to pass.
“These unhappy truths lead to an untenable financial situation for residents and an equally untenable political situation for local officials such as myself,” Sinclair said in her testimony. “Many Mainers may not be able to speak with their federal or even state legislators easily, but most can find me in my driveway, or at Hannaford, or at my son’s swim meets.”
For more information, go to legislature.maine.gov.
