Tuition petition nixed by Island Falls officials

ISLAND FALLS – Selectmen have turned down a petition calling for the town to pull its pupils out of the Southern Aroostook Community School District and tuition them to SAD 25 in Sherman Station.

The petition, signed by about 50 people, was rejected at the Nov. 20 selectmen’s meeting because it limited where students could be sent if they didn’t go to the SACSD in Dyer Brook, according to Town Agent Cheryl McNally.

The petition drive, which began about a month ago, was prompted by what some people felt was the town’s unfair tax burden for education, caused by, among other things, high valuation for lakefront property.

“Island Falls has a higher valuation than the other [five] towns because of our lakes,” said Bob Porter, who organized the petition drive. “They have lakes, too.”

Porter owns property on Pleasant Lake as well as elsewhere in Island Falls.

The 2002-03 state valuation for Island Falls was $41,025,000. Oakfield, the next largest town in the district and the only other district town with lakes, has a state valuation of $22.3 million, according to Terry Comeau, SACSD superintendent.

“I find it hard to believe that Island Falls is that much more valuable,” Porter said Tuesday. “There’s a big discrepancy in valuation.”

McNally said that about 27 percent of Island Fall’s property tax goes to pay for education. The tax rate this year is 22.6 mills.

Porter was not at last week’s selectmen’s meeting. He learned from a reporter that the petition had been rejected.

“This throws me for a loop, them not letting me know,” he said. “I just think it’s a lack of understanding why it was written this way.”

He said he didn’t know if he would circulate another petition since SAD 25 is 15 miles away and the closest district to Island Falls.

Island Falls has 107 pupils, about 26 percent of the SACSD total enrollment, while Oakfield has 117, or 28 percent.

Island Falls pays more than 38 percent of the district’s budget, while Oakfield pays about 21 percent.

Comeau said Tuesday that the district bases its assessment to towns on overall property valuation, but the state determines the valuation. Enrollment is not a factor in determining assessments in the district.

Of the total school assessment to SACSD towns, Island Falls pays $635,002, while Oakfield pays $345,124.

Other district towns are Merrill, Smyrna, Dyer Brook, and Crystal, which have assessments ranging from almost $134,000 to more than $204,000.

Porter said he thought that Island Falls wasn’t adequately represented on the school board, considering how much it pays for education. Board members each have a weighted vote, with weight determined by town populations. The total of all votes is 1,002 points.

Island Falls has three representatives whose combined vote weight is 303, about 30 percent of the total.

“We’re a major contributor to the school system, but there’s no advantage to Island Falls on [saying] how the money is spent by the school board,” he said.

“Budgets can be cut,” the organizer said. “It looks to me like everybody just says let it go.”