Union 90 plans forums to discuss tax cap impact

The four towns that make up School Union 90 will be among the latest to discuss ramifications to their school department budgets if the proposed tax cap initiative passes in November.

School committees in Alton, Bradley, Greenbush and Milford each have put the item on their agenda for discussion, but the union is adopting an informal “wait-and-see” policy, Union 90 Superintendent Michael Cyr said this week.

“We have a high level of anxiety about [potential] impact, but there are so many variables to consider and there’s no way for us to predict what [the bill] will do,” Cyr said.

The initiative – commonly known as the Palesky bill after the Topsham woman who spearheaded it – would cap property taxes at $10 per $1,000 of assessed value, based on values in 1996-97, and limit assessment increases to 2 percent yearly while property ownership remains in a family.

Opponents of the initiative worry that if the bill passes, it would have significant ramifications on public services, including schools. Cyr agrees.

“Anything that saves money should be appreciated,” he said. “But we need to ask, ‘will we be in a better place in five years?'”

Supporters of the bill, such as Phil Harriman of Tax Cap YES, said convincing about 70,000 public employees that the tax initiative is a good idea is no small feat.

“I can’t think of a more formidable bloc of people to organize and advocate defeat of the measure,” Harriman said recently. “It is certainly daunting to us because we’re a bunch of volunteers.”

Cyr said the Palesky initiative probably came out of “pure frustration … and the need to do something.” Whether the proposal is the answer remains to be seen, but other options are out there, he said.

As it stands, Union 90 already faces the problem of declining enrollment, and Cyr pointed to regionalization – consolidation of selected municipal services – as a possible alternative to “radical” tax initiatives.

“We need to make a paradigm shift and regionalize,” Cyr said. “None of these towns wants to lose its school, but [problems] are going to continue until we have a systematic change in government.”

Cyr said his administrators and educators in Union 90 have been kept up to date on the Palesky proposal, but he doesn’t know exactly what will come out of next week’s meetings.

“I don’t predict that my [school] boards will be very knowledgeable [on the issue],” Cyr said. “They tend to care more about things that are tangible to them.”

Union 90’s school committee meeting schedule is as follows:

. Alton – 6 p.m. Monday, Sept. 13, at Alton Elementary School.

. Bradley – 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 14, at Viola Rand School.

. Greenbush – 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 15, at Helen S. Dunn.

. Milford – 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 16, at Dr. Lewis S. Libby School.