LIVERMORE FALLS – School and town officials from SAD 36 heard from Rep. Arthur Lerman, D-Augusta, Monday night in a joint session on Gov. John Baldacci’s proposed property tax reform.

Lerman is one of the 15 members of the Legislature’s select committee studying the governor’s proposal. Its report, which he hopes will be a bipartisan agreement, is due Jan. 14, he said.

He also stressed that the committee is not working on a broad tax reform, but is focusing on the property tax. He said Maine relies on its property tax more than any other state, and it relies less on sales tax. The governor’s proposal is a start toward lowering reliance on property tax, he said.

Lerman traced the background of state support for education. The state pledged state aid at 55 percent in the mid-1980s.

The state now pays only 43 percent of local educational costs, and the goal is to get back to 55 percent. Some groups, such as the Maine Chamber of Commerce, is pushing for that goal immediately, in compliance with the recent referendum vote.

Immediate compliance will come at a cost, estimated at $250 million a year, in addition to the $700 million to $800 million the state now pays. The governor proposes that the goal be reached over four years.

The goal is for all communities to be contributing $8 per $1,000 of assessed property value to education. Presently Livermore devotes $9 per $1,000 and Livermore Falls pays $11 per $1,000, Superintendent Terry Despres said.

Rep. Ray Pineau, D-Jay, confirmed that Jay’s school support is also at $11 per $1,000.

The governor’s plan also calls for at least 90 percent of the new school funding to go back to taxpayer relief, for spending limits to reduce the overall tax burden in Maine, and for spending caps on local, county and state budgets.

With spending caps, the challenge will be that people want services but don’t necessarily want to pay for them, Lerman explained. “We are wrestling with some tough issues,” he said.