Tax mill rate in Grand Isle near top in state > Residents request closing the school, sending students to a nearby district

GRAND ISLE – The property tax mill rate here has been set at 39.75 mills, an increase of 6.5 mills over last year.

It is one of the highest in the state, according to Robert Dunbar, chairman of the Grand Isle board of selectmen. Dunbar, who has lived in the community since 1989, has seen his property taxes increase from $300 a year to $1,200 a year.

A resident with a $50,000 home pays $1,987 in property taxes.

Educating the town’s 73 children takes the biggest chunk of property taxes – about 64 percent. The local share of this year’s $681,378 education bill is $387,314.

The town’s total budget, from property taxes is $605,899.

“The schools consume 33 mills of our tax rate,” Dunbar said. “Something has to be done, and we are looking into options. Meetings have been held with school systems to tuition our children. It’s too bad because some people will be losing their jobs.”

According to Dunbar, a petition is being circulated to look at the education issue. People want a special town meeting, and that could happen in December. There is already one special town meeting scheduled Dec. 6 to look at the possibility of hiring an administrative assistant to run the town.

“Some residents, actually many of them, are calling for the closing of the school,” Dunbar said. “We will have to look at that, at some point.”

Another problem in Grand Isle is the narrow tax base. Since there is no industry and very few commercial establishments, the tax base consists mostly of homes and farmland.

In 1993, educating children took up 53 percent of the budget. That share has gone up 11 percent in seven years.

“For the number of children we educate, the cost is very high,” Dunbar said. “We are in trouble, and we need to look at alternatives.

“Voters have to decide once and for all what they want to do,” he said. “The special meeting, which should be held in December, should bring about some decisions.

Dunbar said the outgoing tax bills will hit taxpayers hard.

“We have the distinction of having one of the highest property tax rates in Maine,” he said. “It’s not a nice distinction to have, being second or third highest in Maine.”

Dunbar said the handicapped-accessible school building could have other uses, including a municipal center. The present town office could be used by the fire department, he said.

The Grand Isle School Department has met with officials in SAD 24 in Van Buren and the Madawaska School Department to get estimates on tuitioning the town’s children. Grand Isle has 73 children in pre-kindergarten through grade 12.

Negotiations are continuing. The town has received an offer of $4,200 per child, including busing, from SAD 24.

That was considerably lower than Madawaska’s first offer. Those tuition figures included $5,055 per elementary school pupil, $2,528 for kindergarten pupils who attend school half-days for five days a week, $2,022 for pre-kindergarten pupils who attend half-days, four days a week and $5,433 for students in grades nine through 12.

Currently, Grand Isle educates 32 children in pre-kindergarten through grade five in its own elementary school. Forty-one students in grades six through 12 are educated in either Madawaska or SAD 24 schools. The town pays tuition for the students in grades six through 12.

Charles Anderson, SAD 24’s financial director, said Grand Isle could save more than $140,000 the first year, and as much as $325,000 a year in succeeding years.

During the first year, Grand Isle would have projected one-time costs of $182,000 for severance pay, medical insurance payments and unemployment compensation for the nine employees whose jobs would be eliminated in the school closing and for minimal upkeep of the school building.

Thomas Scott, superintendent of schools in Madawaska, said recently that Grand Isle could save $113,000 in the first year.

Grand Isle is sandwiched between Madawaska and Van Buren, where the SAD 24 schools are located. SAD 24 also includes Hamlin and Cyr Plantation. Grand Isle was part of SAD 24 until it withdrew from the district because of high costs in 1986.

Officials calculated the Madawaska proposal could save Grand Isle residents 11 mills of property taxes per year. The lower SAD 24 proposal could save taxpayers even more.

It costs Grand Isle $5,798 per year to educate each child.

The student enrollment in Grand Isle has also dropped. Two years ago the town was educating 91 children.