OTISFIELD – Otisfield selectmen want to know why the tax relief they were promised under a citizen initiative requiring state funding of 55 percent of school costs won’t be delivered this year.
They have invited town officials from the eight towns of SAD 17 to a Feb. 16 meeting to talk about the issue with Superintendent Mark Eastman.
Eastman has been quoted as saying that district towns won’t see any property tax relief under this year’s state subsidy for education, due to the phase-in of an Essential Programs and Services program passed into law last year.
“This is not what the members of our community want to hear,” said Selectman Mark Cyr in a letter to Otisfield School Board member Joe Vaillancourt. “During 2004, it was clear that the local voters at the polls want a reduction in property taxes.”
Voters passed a citizen initiative requiring the state to fund 55 percent of school education costs, so that less money would need to be raised by property taxes.
Maine Gov. John Baldacci’s tax reform measure, which was signed into law last week, called for increasing the state’s share of school funding from 43 percent to 55 percent over four years.
“Due to the outpouring concern over these matters by local residents, we are requesting that all additional money that the district receives be handled in a way that will result in direct property tax relief,” Cyr wrote. “It is also highly recommended that SAD 17’s board exhaust all means to maintain operating costs as close to current levels as possible.”
Cyr said that may mean that some areas of the budget might need to be cut or reduced.
Selectmen Lenny Adler and Tom Nurmi approved of Cyr’s letter, and encouraged him to try to enlist the support of other district towns in the tax relief request.
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