SAD 48 superintendent warns of TABOR’s effect

NEWPORT – The combination of the proposed Taxpayer Bill of Rights on this November’s referendum and the governor’s Essential Programs and Services programming, which will not completely raise the level of state assistance with local school funding until 2009, has school superintendents reeling.

“It’s like a merry-go-round, and there is no way to get off,” SAD 48 Superintendent William Braun said Monday.

TABOR, according to a Maine Municipal Association impact study completed in July, would require that any local budget increase for both municipalities and school districts, or tax or fee increases of any amount, must go through a local override process that includes a two-thirds vote of the legislative body and a referendum.

“The limitations are so stringent, and given SAD 48’s history, I don’t think this district could survive TABOR,” Braun said.

Voters in SAD 48 traditionally have fought tax increases, forcing a districtwide vote two years ago after they defeated a state-record six referendum proposals on the school budget.

The upside, Braun said, is that TABOR’s details are based on student population growth, and while many districts are losing students, SAD 48 is gaining.

“We have today 2,221 students,” Braun said. “That is up 97 students from last year.”

He said that when two new middle schools were constructed recently, there was talk in the district of consolidating some of the half-empty elementary schools, a plan Braun opposed.

“It’s a good thing because today we have no empty classrooms left,” he said.

Three of the district’s six towns also have had new subdivisions proposed, he said, which could add another 40 to 50 children.

To add insult to injury, a private consultant completed a building assessment for the district recently that revealed that SAD 48’s buildings are in urgent need of $20 million in repairs.

“And that will be $40 million 10 years from now,” Braun said.

The biggest problem with TABOR is that because of student population growth, SAD 48 may be allowed to raise its budget between 4 percent and 6 percent, but the individual towns may not be able to fund that.

“Will they then be forced to cut off police service, fire departments or garbage collection to fund SAD 48?” Braun asked.

He said because of the way that the TABOR bill is worded, he fears many taxpayers will be in favor of its enactment.

“Everyone wants to reduce taxes, but I think TABOR is aiming at the wrong target,” he said. “Local governments and school districts are traditionally quite frugal. We are frugal. Local boards are already limiting local expenditures.

“If TABOR is trying to limit state expenditures, folks should realize that the state can set TABOR aside, and yet we on the local level are bound by it,” he said.

Braun said the SAD 48 board has not taken a formal stand on TABOR, but he expects it will soon.

“That’s going to be a tough one for them,” Braun predicted. “They know how the taxpayers feel, but they are there to represent the schoolchildren. They are really going to have to look inside themselves.”