An increase in state aid for K-12 education, passed through the Legislature in a veto override on June 30, has impacted the school districts of Lincoln County differently.
The $25 million added to general purpose aid for education was the result of “unprecedented negotiations, conducted behind closed doors with the outcome tightly held until legislative caucuses could see results,” the Sheepscot Valley Regional School Unit finance committee wrote in a June report.
With education budgets already finalized and approved by voters, some districts are deciding the best process to follow to accept the additional dollars from an increased state subsidy.
Other districts, such as the Rocky Channels School System, or AOS 98, were unaffected by the additional state support and received no increase in their subsidy. According to Eileen King, AOS 98 superintendent, the additional state aid was distributed through the Essential Program and Services formula, the algorithm developed by the state to determine the distribution of state aid.
Due to the formula, some school districts saw enormous increases in their state support, while others continued to see their state subsidy decline. “We’re considered minimum receivers,” King said. “Minimum receivers got nothing.”
The Central Lincoln County School System, or AOS 93, schools are also considered minimum receivers, and with the exception of Jefferson Village School, saw no additional increase to their state subsidy.
For the school districts that did receive an increase in their state subsidy, the Department of Education is recommending the additional money received be used to offset money raised through local contributions, Joanne Allen, Maine Department of Education school finance and compliance coordinator, said.
Another option would be rolling the additional money into the school districts’ carry-forward for the 2016-2017 fiscal year, Allen said.
According to Allen, the Maine Department of Education is advising school districts that wish to use the subsidy to reduce local contributions to have their school boards vote on it. A special election to modify the budget would only be required if districts intend to use the funds to increase their expenditures, Allen said.
“We’re advising a school board vote so there’s a trail and record of the action,” Allen said. According to Allen, legal counsel has advised the department an additional referendum vote would only be needed to authorize an additional expenditure, or raise the school budget, not to lower the local contribution.
The legal advice given by school districts’ independent counsel, however, differs from the advice of the Maine Department of Education. RSU 40’s and RSU 12’s legal counsel advised the districts a budget meeting and referendum vote with the revised budget would be required to reduce the local commitment of municipalities.
The RSU 40 Board of Directors voted in July to hold a district budget meeting and referendum vote to use the new subsidy figures to reduce the local contributions for the municipalities in their district.
According to Karla Miller, business manager for RSU 40, the board was following the advice given by the district’s legal counsel when the board wanted to change its local contribution two years ago.
The Department of Education sent school districts three warrant article options to include in their budget votes to authorize the expenditure of additional funds if the state subsidy increased, Miller said. However, the warrant options were sent to RSU 40 after their warrant had already been posted, she said.
Two voters turned out for RSU 40’s budget meeting held Tuesday, Aug. 11 to pass an article authorizing the district to use the subsidy to reduce local contributions. The revised budget will now head to a referendum vote in the towns in the RSU 40 district.
RSU 12 received an additional $205,404.33 in state subsidy, from the preliminary $9,373,004 included in the voter-approved budget to the enacted $9,578,408.33. RSU 12’s finance committee met Tuesday, Aug. 11 and will make the recommendation to the RSU 12 board that the additional state subsidy be carried forward to the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
The finance committee recommended additional funds be treated as committed and an escrow account be created to track the credit owed to each town in the district.
The RSU 12 board will meet Thursday, Aug. 13 to vote on the finance committee’s recommendation. If approved, Alna will see a $19,654.17 credit in 2016-2017 from the increased subsidy.
Somerville will see a credit of $13,345.83. Whitefield will see a credit of $46,108.33.
Chelsea will see a credit of $37,779.17. Palermo will see a credit of $44,312.50. Windsor will see a credit of $44,204.17.
There will be no change to Westport Island’s local contribution due to the increased subsidy.
The Wiscasset School Department will be able to use the additional subsidy to offset the local contribution without a vote, Superintendent Heather Wilmot said at the July 30 school committee meeting.
The department’s annual budget vote included a warrant article that authorized a reduction in assessed taxes if there were to be an unanticipated increase in state subsidy. Wiscasset taxpayers’ contribution to the education budget will drop by $108,070.83 from the original local contribution amount of $5,608,917.31 to $5,500,846.48.
Editor’s Note: The credits for the schools in RSU 12’s district have been revised slightly from the figures published in the Aug. 13 edition, due to a change in the distribution formula.