Brewer school board opposes Palesky tax cap

BREWER – Talks about the Palesky tax cap initiative at Monday’s school board meeting centered on the possibility of the department losing teachers and the ability to offer sports, art, music and other extra- and co-curricular activities, Superintendent Betsy Webb said Wednesday.

The five-member board unanimously endorsed a resolve opposing the tax cap at the meeting.

Passage of the tax cap measure, which is set to go before voters in November, “would have a devastating impact” on the Brewer school department’s programs and services, Webb told the board on Monday in a prepared statement.

“When you consider that approximately 80 percent of the Brewer school department’s $14.5 million budget covers salaries and benefits, we know that there would have to be a massive reduction in staff,” she said at the meeting. “To further clarify the impact on staffing, if all extracurricular and sports activities were eliminated, the Brewer school department would only reduce its expenditures by approximately $415,000 of the proposed Palesky loss of $3.25 million.

“An additional $2,835,000 would need to be eliminated.”

The school department also would have to consider reducing or eliminating tutors, busing, field trips, after-school and summer programs, physical education classes and gifted and talented programs, if the measure passes, Webb said Wednesday.

The Palesky initiative would scale back assessed property values to their 1996-97 level and cap property taxes at $10 per $1,000 of valuation. It also would limit assessments to an increase of 2 percent a year while the property remains in a family.

The city of Brewer is estimating a 60 percent drop in revenues if the tax cap is passed by voters, which corresponds to a significant drop in education funding, Webb said. She said the school department could face even more cuts under the state’s new funding formula.

Uncertainties of the initiative are substantial, but the clear message is that the tax cap will have a negative effect on schools, Webb said.

After the tax cap discussion, the school board also discussed a proposal for class dues.

The class dues would be used to pay for graduation ceremonies and could be offset by volunteering, Webb said.

“Basically they’re trying to get more students involved in raising the funds for graduation,” the superintendent said Wednesday.Last year, the cost to put on the high school graduation was $19,000, which, with 190 graduating seniors, worked out to about $100 per student. Based on these costs, the school department decided to ask students to pitch in $25 a year for graduation.

“Students will need to volunteer at one of three fund-raisers each year,” Webb said. “If you participate, you don’t have to pay class dues.”

Each class at the high school has three designated fund-raisers each year. For example, the freshman class conducts a magazine drive, runs a concession stand and puts on a homecoming dance. To avoid paying the $25 annual fee, freshman students would need to help out with one of these events.

The money will be used to pay for a dinner banquet for seniors, the senior prom, pictures, rental of graduation caps and gowns and rental of the Maine Center for the Arts at the University of Maine for the actual graduation ceremony.

An open forum to discuss the new class dues is scheduled for 7 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 29, at the high school student services conference room.