WATERFORD – Selectman Whizzer Wheeler would like to see towns pay for school services at a per-pupil rate, but a state law calling for such a change may need work, he said.

Wheeler said that if recent reports on the law have been correct, it doesn’t sound fair.

The state may after July 1 require towns participating in school administrative or community districts to pay for services based on the number of pupils they have, not their total property valuations. For SAD 44, that means towns like Newry may get a $1 million break in school spending, while others could see spending increases from 17 to 82 percent.

In SAD 17, towns like Waterford, Harrison and Otisfield would likely benefit, Wheeler said, but “what is unfair, and is unfair to everybody, is that those particular towns would get a tax cut to the detriment of the other towns.”

The measure, Wheeler said, would largely benefit second-home owners.

“The formula needs more work to bring equity and parity to the residents of all the towns,” Wheeler said.

The Waterford Board of Selectmen has considered asking voters to pay for a study of whether the town would benefit from paying school costs at a per-pupil rate, but Wheeler said that will be on hold until questions over the state’s new funding formula are answered.

SAD 17 uses an assessment formula that is based 75 percent on a town’s valuation and 25 percent on its student enrollment.