ROCKLAND, Maine — The double whammy of program cuts and higher property taxes that has hammered the Rockland area school district over the past several years is due in large part to declining state aid, according to local officials who are struggling yet again with a budget that will require more from local communities.
The spokeswoman for the state education department, however, countered earlier this month that state aid has increased overall in Maine since Gov. Paul LePage was first elected. Communications Director Samantha Warren said that Regional School Unit 13 has seen a drop in aid over the past several years, in large part, because of a decline in enrollment.
“It’s certainly convenient to point the finger at the state but the bottom line is when your enrollment, your debt and your services all go down, so should your spending. When you need less, you get less so that the increasing amount of total state support can instead be distributed to those with rising costs and challenges,” Warren said in response to the district’s recent complaints over state aid.
RSU 13’s Board Chairman Steve Roberts said he questions the current way state education aid is distributed. He said a funding formula should take into consideration all aspects of a community’s financial well being, including income which is not currently considered. Basically, the state currently allots state aid each year based mainly on student enrollments and property valuations. But Roberts points out that the median household income in Rockland is $37,549, according to the U.S. Census, far less than the state median of $48,453.
RSU 13 was created in July 2009 from the merger of School Administrative Districts 5 and 50. RSU 13 consists of Rockland, Thomaston, Owls Head, South Thomaston and Cushing. St. George will separate from the district on July 1.
In the past six years, the amount of money the communities have spent on education has dropped from $28.9 million in 2008-2009 which was the final year of the two separate districts to $27.1 million in 2014-2015.
Board Vice Chairman Loren Andrews stressed at a Monday night budget meeting that the district does not have a spending problem but instead a revenue problem.
In the final year of SADs 5 and 50, the two districts received more than $5.5 million in state aid to help pay for the combined budgets of $28.9 million. The amount of state aid has since dropped $2.3 million, falling to slightly less than $3.2 million in 2014-2015. This has resulted in a greater reliance on property taxes, particularly for Rockland.
Rockland’s tax rate is projected to jump 13.5 percent from $20.16 to $22.90, in large part because of the money to cover the loss of school subsidies. A person owning a home assessed at $150,000 would pay an additional $411 in property taxes in the next year.
The state education department spokeswoman said any decline in state aid for a district in Maine is due to less need in comparison to other districts. This could be caused by a drop in student enrollment or a reduction in programs, she said. The Rockland area school district also won’t get as much from the state in debt reimbursements next year because it is retiring $108,000 in debt for the addition and renovation to the South School.
But a big reason for the decline in RSU 13’s state aid is because of a huge decline in student enrollment, Warren said. The number of students has gone from 2,154 in 2009-2010 to 1,927 in the current school year, representing a decline of more than 10 percent.
While enrollment is down generally statewide, RSU 13’s enrollment is declining much more dramatically than the statewide average, Warren stated. She said as state valuation has remained relatively flat for RSU 13, the loss in students without a corresponding decline in valuation leads to a higher per pupil valuation. This in turn causes the distribution formula to perceive RSU 13 as needing less state funds as it has more fiscal capacity behind each student than the state average, Warren stated.
And with the departure of St. George, the remaining communities are facing another significant revenue shortage that will require a steep hike in property taxes.